The Third Family
by cyclonegal12
Summary: (In first person) A Sequeal to Families CAN Be Replaceable. Kyo's now 16 and her and Mikoto's agreement is upon them. Can Kyo adjust from the rustic life she's comfortable in to the fancy life Mikoto leads?
1. 16's Almost Upon Us

The Third Family  
Here it is! The awaited sequeal to Families CAN Be Replaceable! I hope you like it!

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I will reply to all the reviews of the last chapter of Families CAN Be Replaceable here.

**Wolf of Fire- **I'm glad you loved my story and I hope you love the sequeal just as much or even more!

**Rian- **I emailed you.

**uniquechic- **Of course I'll put the comments at the bottem! It wouldn't be one of my stories without them!

**love-bracelet123- **I emailed you too. Please get back to me and we'll work something out.

**Mystic Bynd- **Calm down! And please don't break my floor! O.O Here's the sequeal.

**Cookie- **I am not from Russia. I am 100% American. Sorry if you're disappointed.

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It had almost been three years since that fateful day I had lost one of my nine lives. I was now 15, almost sixteen. The shards of the Shikon no Tama weren't all collected, though we had defeated Naraku almost a year ago, so the quest continued. It was starting to turn into a problem. This was the last year of high school for Kagome. She would be going off the collage next fall and we would lose our 'shard detector'.  
But besides that days were pretty normal. I would go to school as many days as I could as always. Amazingly, I was able to maintain a steady B average. Even if I had gone to school on a certain day, my nights, after homework of course, were always spent through the well. This was because Mikoto was always waiting for me.  
He had become a steady part of our little group, helping Inuyasha slay demons. And guess what? Inuyasha's protectiveness wore down and I was now allowed to help in the fights! It's probably because I learned my first attack. Maybe because I had Taoa to protect me too.  
All right. Now that you're pretty much caught up on what had happened in those three years between my last story and this story, I can really begin.  
It being a Saturday, I was able to do my favorite thing in the world. Sit around in the feudal era. The only problem. My birthday was approaching so it was December. Too cold to sit around outside. So I was sitting against a wall in Kaede's hut. The normal things were going on. Miroku was toying with his staff. Sango was grooming Kilala. Shippo was coloring something with some new crayons I had brought him. Kagome was working on homework. Kaede was doing something with her herbs. Inuyasha was sitting around doing nothing in a corner and Taoa was trying to get him to play. Mikoto was out today. No one was quite sure where he went, but we weren't worried. He did that now and then.  
Taoa had grown quickly. I had been riding her since she had turned sixth months old. Now three years, she was as big, smart, and strong as Kilala. "Would you get the stupid cat away from me?!" Inuyasha finally snapped. I sighed. "Come here, Taoa." I said, "Let's not interrupt grumpy old Inuyasha. I bet his sulking is very important to him."  
"It is." He grumbled. "Cheer up Inuyasha." I said, "Tonight's not the new moon." I said, "That's tomorrow." He cursed. "I forgot about that." Inuyasha replied. "Then what were you sulking about?" I asked. "It ain't none of your business." He said walking out of the hut. "What's eating him?" Shippo wondered. "I don't know." I said shaking my head.  
"What day is it?" Kagome asked looking up from her homework. "The eleventh." I answered. "So three days until your birthday." Miroku commented, "You must be excited, Kyo." "I am." I agreed. "The sixteenth birthday is the most important one in my time." Kagome said, "Mom's going to throw a big party for Kyo."  
"Are we invited?" Shippo asked hopefully. "You would be, but you can't get through the well." she replied. "What about Inuyasha?" Sango asked. "He's not." Kagome said quckly. "I'll bring you guys back some cake and I'll tell you all about my presents." I said. "I like cake!" Shippo exclaimed, "Can I have a big piece?" I laughed. "Of course you can." I replied, "You can have it all if you can get the others to agree." Shippo frowned. "Then I'm not getting it all." he said, "Inuyasha's a pig!"  
"My homework is finished!" Kagome declared, snapping the book shut. "I finished mine yesterday." I said, "You should have too." "I don't like doing homework on Fridays." she replied, "It's a day to relax." "Whatever floats your boat." I said shrugging. Kagome got up and walked out. I closed my eyes, deciding on taking a short nap.  
Only a minute or two into my nap, a familiar scent woke me. Mikoto had returned. I didn't bother to open my eyes. "I know you're awake." he told me. Something was dropped into my lap. Finally opening my eyes, I gasped. "Where'd you get it?" I asked picking up the large daisy. It seemed as if the rest of the group had fialed out during my nap. Maybe it had been more than one or two minutes. "It's the first flower of the spring." Mikoto replied, "I picked it up on my way back here."  
"No you didn't." I said, "It's 5 below out there. Not even a demon flower could grow. Now tell me the truth." "Kagome got it for me to give to you." he answered, "Your time is amazing! Being able to grow plants out of season! Think of that!"  
Mikoto sat down next to me. I rested my head on his shoulder. "You're almost sixteen." he told me, stroking my cheek, "Our agreement is almost upon us." "Yeah." I agreed, "Those three years went so fast, but I think I'm ready now." "That's good." Mikoto said, "So we'll leave for our vacation on your birthday like usual."  
Mikoto had brought me somewhere each year as a birthday present. He wouldn't tell me where. It would be a surprise.  
Year 13- The waterfall. It really wasn't a vacation that year. Just an important place.  
Year 14- Mount Fuji. The whole place was breath taking. I could believe my eyes! Though I had seen pictures of it in my text books, this was the first time I saw it for real.  
Year 15- The beach. Lucky I brought my bathing suit with me last year. Mikoto had hinted something to do with water.  
Now it was year 16. "We can't go on my birthday this year." I said sadly. "Why not?" Mikoto asked sounding slightly disappointed. "I'm having a party for my birthday that evening." I replied, "We can go the day after though." He nodded. "That would be fine." Mikoto told me, "As long as we go in the morning. "Late morning." I said, "There has to be times for good byes and all." "Then December 15 in the late morning we will go on vacation." he said, "I hope you like it. You might want to pack a lot this year."

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Inuyasha: We have to sit through more of the stupid cat's story? Damn.

Kagome: I think it'll be interesting! She's almost 16! Remember the agreement she made with Mikoto.

Inuyasha: That's right! We don't have to deal with the kid anymore! YEAH! Mikoto's carting her off back to his place! YEAH!

Clear Waters: Your sadness makes me hurt inside.

Kagome: That might be heartburn.

Clear Waters: -.-; R&R everyone!


	2. Birthday Mornings

The Third Family

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**LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- **This story will have more romance than Families CAN Be Replaceable, I mean she's going to get a mate, but there won't be lots and lots. Don't worry. That stuff scares me too. 

**Cirrus, The pheonix of life- **Don't put yourself down. It wasn't that bad. My first chapter was boring beyond reason.

**Dragon Man 180- **Of course the birthday party will be good! It's a Sweet 16 party! Kagome's grandpa's given up on throwing stuff at Kyo, but maybe not at Inuyasha... And you should always be afraid of what that crazy priest is going to give as a present. You should know that by now.

**KG the oven mit fanatic- **This is a reply for both reviews you've given me so far. I'm happy you like my story so much to read it all the way through (you're the second to do it that I know of) I'm a loyal supporter of Takahashi-san. Remember, I have her to thank for giving me the characters and plot to work off of. And I disagree, the original story line will never look like crap. Might I suggest you begin stalking the stalker? Ha ha! Get it? Oh well. Stupid joke. May I point out Mikoto's taken? Here's the next chapter!

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I woke up on my birthday, full of energy and excitement. Hoping out of bed, I pulled on my yellow kimono, which doubled as a bathrobe. I had spent the night on Kagome's side of the well. I wanted to be with my adoptive mother, sister, grandfather, and brother, on my birthday before seeing the rest of my friends.  
Looking around my room, I sighed with contentment. It pretty much looked the same as it had when I first walked in, aside for the piles of paper on the desk, a mountain of stuffed animals on and beside my bed, and a few framed pictures of various people on the walls. Just the way I liked it. I walked downstairs, ready to be greeted cheerfully.  
"Happy 16th birthday!" My family exclaimed as I walked into the kitchen. I had expected it. They had done it for every birthday I had celebrated here. Like usual there was a birthday feast laid out next to a pile of presents. "Come on and open them!" Souta said pushing a present into my hands. I want to see what everyone else got you. This is from me!"  
Souta, now eleven, was still the cutest, most generous kid I've ever seen in my life, this includes Shippo, but don't tell him! I opened his present. Inside was a large white chocolate cat complete with purple eyes and a big red bow around its neck. "When I saw it, I thought of you and decided you had to have it." my brother explained. "It looks really good!" I said smiling, "Thanks so much!" It did look good. I wanted to eat it, but eating chocolate before breakfast would make mom disapprove, so I decided to save it for later.  
"Me next!" Kagome said. She handed me a little box. Inside were a string of prayer beads identical to Inuyasha's. "I thought they might come in handy." Kagome explained, "If Mikoto gives you any problems all you have to do is slip this over his head and give him his own sit command." There was a bang from behind. "Inuyasha came to visit." I commented, putting the beads away.  
"Of course I did!" Inuyasha said, his voice muffled by the floor, "I'm not a jerk who forgets birthdays." "Really?" Kagome asked. Inuyasha ignored the last comment. "And I wasn't expecting to get Sat!" he finished. "Sorry about that!" Kagome said, "I didn't know you were around or I wouldn't have said it." The spell wore off and Inuyasha got up. "But I was and you Sat me." he growled. "I didn't mean to." Kagome said quickly.  
Sensing the fight brewing, mom gave me the present from her. Inuyasha and Kagome stopped their fight to see what it was. It was larger than my last two presents. I opened it to see a brand new fancy kimono. I gasped in awe as I pulled it out. Blue silk, embroidered with silver thread and little pearls, perfectly matched in size.  
"It's from all of us really." mom told me, "We thought if your other family gave you a kimono for being human once a month, then we'd give you a kimono for being yourself the rest of the time." I hugged each of them in turn. "Thank you so much!" I exclaimed, "This is the best birthday present ever!"  
"Feh." Inuyasha commented, "What's so special about it." Kagome glared at him and said one word fair payback. "Sit!" And like always, Inuyasha sat. "Is it possible for that command to get more powerful each time the wench uses it?" Inuyasha asked from his face plant. "Maybe." I admitted, "It could grow along with her miko powers." He groaned.  
"Now for my present." Grandpa said giving me a small package. Living the last few years in this house hold has taught me to beware of Grandpa's presents so I opened the box with extreme caution. Inside was a lock of silvery white hair with an extremely familiar scent all over it." By the time I reconized it Grandpa was already on his explanation.  
"-powerful ape demon's hair." "That's no ape demon's hair." I said staring at the hair in complete horror and amazement, "That's Inuyasha's hair!" "Wha?!?!" Inuyasha exclaimed, grabbing the box from me. He gave the hair a sniff. "Where the hell did you get it old man?" Inuyasha demanded. "Been in our family for ages." Grandpa said shrugging, "Never knew it was yours." He walked out of the room rambling something about strange things happening over the years.  
Kagome and I exchanged glances. Then burst out laughing. "What?!" Inuyasha said. This just made us laugh harder. "Tell me what's so funny damnit!" Inuyasha yelled. Our giggles, if possible, became harder still.

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Inuyasha: Okay. That was strange.

Clear Waters: I know. That's why I had to write it!

Inuyasha: Couldn't it have been one of the side stories?

Clear Waters: No, because it's Kyo's 16th birthday.

Inuyasha: Feh, whatever. Still doesn't make any sense.

Shippo: It makes sense to me.

Kagome: Yes, me too.

Miroku: Makes sense to me, I don't get what you don't understand, Inuyasha. It's quite simple.

Sango: I agree. You really should be able to understand it.

Inuyasha: Shut up and stop making me look like an idiot!

Clear Waters: Alright. We could shut up and stop making you look like an idiot, AFTER Sesshoumaru comes.

Inuyasha: WHAT?!?! You didn't invite the bastard to this story too, did you?

Clear Waters: Of course not. It has nothing to do with him. I was just teasing you.

Shippo: But it sort of does have to do with Sesshoumaru. I mean Kyo's down to 8 lives and it's his fault.

Clear Waters: Yeah, but that has to do with the last story. Maybe I should invite him to the Side Stories.

Inuyasha: NO!

Sango: And you should have invited him to Well, Whoops.

Inuyasha: NO!

Clear Waters: You're right. And I'm still thinking about putting an alternate ending on it for all you people who thought my ending wasn't too good (I'm among you on that. It stunk.)

Kagome: If you didn't like the ending, why don't you redo it?

Clear Waters: That's what I'm thinking about doing!

Kagome: Then you should do it!

Miroku: What's this? {Picks up little cousin's Barbie}

Clear Waters: NO! She'll kill me! PUT IT DOWN! Excuse me and don't forget to R&R! PUT IT DOWN NOW!

Miroku: This doll is really pretty.

Clear Waters: PUT IT DOWN!


	3. More Presents and a Race

The Third Family

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**DarkPirate 510- **There will be a cerimony for Mikoto and Kyo becoming mates. I'm still debating whether or not Mikoto will be able to get through the well. 

**Heart of Friendship- **I'm upset that Families CAN Be Replaceable is over too. It was my first Inuyasha fan fiction. But I still have the characters, so I'm happy. I had lots of fun at camp! No spelling errors? Wow. That's a first.

**sesslover- **Yeah! I hooked you! Okay. I am not answering that weird question because it's just too weird. You decide. And for the lemons. No. I don't do lemons. Sorry. As for Mikoto's clothes. He's a lot laid back compaired to someone like Sesshoumaru (same rank) Mikoto would probably loose brown pants and a baggy white shirt. Think of what Inuyasha looks like when he gives his over coat to Kagome.

**Juean-Ya- **Thanks for the compliments!

**LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- **I have never seen or read Cardcaptors so I don't know.

**Dragon Man 180- **I'm really not planning on giving Kyo the tip of Sesshy's boa. You see Sesshy's my favorite character and that boa thing (I'm convinced it's a boa) is just soooooo cool I couldn't cut it up.

**Cirrus, the pheonix of life- **Yes, funny but scary.

**love-bracelet123- **You won't be in the next chapter or even a few to come. But don't worry. You'll be there. I'm not sure about the ending talks because I don't even put Kyo in there. Sorry. Yes, GO CATS!!!!

**Mystic Bynd- **No! Don't break my floor! Kagome does it enough already!!!

**Michelle- **I'm glad you love my story! 

**Sorona- **Yeah. It was THE last chapter. {sniff sniff} Read and answer your questions! 

**Kelari-67- **Thanks. 18 out of 5? Is that even possible? 

**Lenipez sideshow- **Don't worry. I'll think of something very creative... If Kyo ever has to use the beads. Who said she'd have to? 

**Kyou- **I know where Mikoto's taking her. Of course I do! I'm the author. Oh well. Stupid moment over. You did spell his name right. YAY!

* * *

"Come on you two!" Inuyasha said, "Let's get going!" "But what about breakfast?" Mom asked. She sounded fully disappointed, "I could whip some ramen up too..." "Really?" Inuyasha asked, "Well then, I guess we could stay a little longer. But just till breakfasts over!" Mom beamed and set another place at the table. 

We left just after breakfast. I had promised mom we'd be back by noon so Kagome and I could help set up for my party. Now we were hurrying on our way towards the village. Kagome was on Inuyasha's back and I was carrying Kagome's bag. I swear the thing weighed as much as she did. Now Inuyasha and I were equal. We could really see who was faster.  
I won. Cursing, Inuyasha dropped Kagome on the ground and walked into to Kaede's hut. After helping her up and handing her her pack, I followed.  
"Happy 16th Birthday!" all my friends yelled. It's amazing how birthdays are celebrated the same way in two very seperated places. "We have presents!" Shippo exclaimed jumping on me. He handed me a little bag. Opening it, I found a grass necklace. "I made it myself." the kid said proudly. "I love it!" I exclaimed, "Thanks so much Shippo!" I put it on. It turned out to be more of a choker.  
"Here's mine." Sango said handing me a small long box. Inside was a pretty dagger. Made out of demon bone no doubt. I looked it over. "Sort of looks like a mini Tetsusaiga." I commented. Sango laughed. "It does." she agreed.  
Next came Miroku's gift. It was a rosary necklace. "If you put it on it will turn you invisible." Miroku explained, "Well not really invisable, just people will see you but pay you no heed. Like you weren't there." "Cool." I said putting it on." And it indeed seemed that I had disappeared. "Take it off damnit!" Inuyasha said after a few seconds of scowling. I did.  
"Do you have a gift Inuyasha?" Kagome asked. He always did. The hanyou just needed some prompting to give it up. "Feh." Inuayasha said, "Yeah." He through me a little leather bag. Inside were six giant, 1 inch diameter, glowing pearls. "They were inside those clam demons we fought a while back." he explained, "They've got to have power. You figure it out." "Thanks." I said smiling at him. I had wondered about pearls in those clams.  
Kaede handed me a box. "I hope ye like it." she said. The box contained a plain gold chain. "It belonged to my sister." Kaede explained. "It's very pretty." I said, "Thank you very much. It must be hard for you to give it away." "Aie." she agreed, "But you deserve it."  
"My turn." Mikoto said walking in. I ran over and hugged him. "Good to see you too kitten." my future mate told me. He handed me a large box. Currious of what it could be, I opened it to see a pair of diamond earings. "Why put them in this box?" I asked. "To mislead you." he replied innocently. I rolled my eyes.  
Mikoto helped me put them in. I giggled the whole time. "Enough of the gift giving." Inuyasha said standing up, "I'm going to take a walk. "We could race!" I suggested, "This time nothing on our backs. We'll see who's faster." "You're on." he replied. "Great!" I said, "Just let me change."  
I ran into the back room. Kaede had let Kagome and I keep some of our stuff in it. I pulled out my set of fire rat robes Inuyasha had given me for my 13th birthday. Even though I'd grown from the runt of 4' 6" to a more reasonable 5' 1", they still fit me. I guess they grew with me.  
Changed, I grabbed a hair tie and pulled back my hair. That's right! I forgot to tell you! I haven't had my hair cut since before I met Kagome and the others. Now it's down to my knees. Amazing, isn't it?  
Back to the story. Changed and my hair pulled back, I went back into the main room. "You two look a lot alike." Kagome commented. "Wha?!" Inuyasha said looking from himself to me, "How the hell do you see that?!" "I have to agree." I said. Kagome shrugged. "I guess it's the clothing." she said. "They are the same." I noted.  
"Enough chit chat." Inuyasha interupted, "Are you ready or not cat? Where are we racing to? Who will referee? This is going to be a real race. Not the stupid ones we've had before." "I will referee." Mikoto said, "The race will be to the well. There's plenty of obsticals on that track." Inuyasha and I nodded. Mikoto ran out of the room. On his way to the well.  
"Ready to race?" Inuyasha asked five minutes later. There's no way Mikoto hasn't gotten there yet." "Ready." I replied. "Then let's go!" Kagome said, "I'll start you two off." We walked outside.  
"On your mark." I got down into a sprinting postion. I had joined the track team, and won every race easily. "Get set." Inuyasha was eyeing me. I guess he was wondering why I had gone into the position. "GO!" We set off, jumping over rocks, boulder, and fallen trees. It didn't matter what they were as long as we could get over them.  
Inuyasha and I stayed practically next to each other for most of the race. Sometimes he'd lead by a few feet. Sometimes I'd lead by a few feet. I was starting to wonder if we were just equal in speed when I saw the first glimpses of the well. I don't think Inuyasha had seen it. I sped up, using practically all my power. Seeing me do this, Inuyasha sped up too, but it was too late. He hadn't sped up soon enough. I launched myself onto Mikoto. I had won.  
"Damnit." Inuyasha said, speeding down so he wouldn't run strait into the well. "I'm faster than you, Inuyasha!" I cheered. "Don't test your luck." he growled, "You're still a stupid cat in my eyes." "I don't care." I said shrugging, "I'm still faster than you!"  
I glanced at my watch I had grown acustomed to wearing and squeaked a little in surprise. "I'm late!" I exclaimed, jumping into the well, "Get Kagome Inuyasha, would you?"

* * *

Inuyasha: You're evil, you know that Clear Waters? 

Clear Waters: Yup. :)

Kagome: Well I think it's good that someone finally beat him. It now gives him less to brag about.

Miroku: Yeah. Being beaten by a girl. Who wants to say that.

Sango: And what is that supposed to mean?

Miroku: Uh. Nothing dear Sango! Ha ha!

Clear Waters: There's a moral in there.

Inuyasha: Oh yeah? Where?

Clear Waters: Never underestimate a girl.

Kagome: Yeah!

Inuyasha: And what about being on time? Is being late a good thing?

Clear Waters: No ones perfect. R&R everybody!


	4. Why Kagome Didn't Come Back

The Third Family

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**Kyou- **Mikoto's not taking Kyo on their little vacation/trip until tomorrow! Remember? Maybe you should reread the first chapter. And you're not stupid. 

**Dragon Man 180- **No one can beat Koga in a race! Well Sesshoumaru might, but he's not in this story. Not yet at least. He's my favorite character. He's has to be in at least one chapter!

**LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- **Your hair is almost Kyo's length? Cool! My waist is my goal for my hair. I don't think I could handle much more. -.-;

**Lenipez sideshow- **That's a really big debate going on in my head. I haven't decided if Mikoto should be able to get through the well. It seems very picky. Hanyous and Mikos ONLY. But maybe I could reason with it... And even though Mikoto's a cat demon I just can't see him asking lots of questions. Can you?

**WolfDemonOfTheNight/sesslover- **I was a bit snappish about the question. Sorry about that. I was having a bad day. -.-; So now I will answer your question. Kyo herself is small so the rest of her is small too. This includes her chest. There we go.

**Kelari-67- **I just had to put in the clams. You see I hate clams. I want Inuyasha to beat one up. Yeah! Fudge!

**DarkPirate-510- **I just put a sidestory up and I still have two more ideas, so yes. I am planning to put more up. Never fear!

**marcy213**- Hello again! Haven't read a review from you in a while. Oh well. Thanks for the happies! I send some to you too!

**Cirrus- **I don't think you should have anymore soda... And you should read your last review. Sorta confusing... {scratches head} I don't know what you mean but. STEP AWAY FROM THE CAT!

**ZeldaAlly- **CAKE! I love cake! Thank you!

* * *

I walked into the kitchen. "Sorry I'm late." I told mom. She was decorating a cake. "That's alright." she replied, "Where's Kagome?" "Inuyasha went to get her." I explained, "I was closer to the well than she was. What can I help with?" Mom handed me a roll of streamers. "Could you decorate the living room?" she asked. I nodded and walked in, grabbing a pair of scissers and some tape as I left the kitchen.  
Putting up the streamers was funner than I expected. Probably because I was breaking the rule of no playing on the furniture which included standing on it. Currently I was standing on the couch.  
"What are you doing?" Souta asked walking into the room. "Decorating for the party." I replied. "Mom told me to sleep over at a friends house tonight so I wouldn't disturb you and your friends." he told me. "You won't disturb us." I said, "Will you?" "No." Souta replied, "I can't now. I'll be at my friend Totu's house. Why do you get to stand on the couch?"  
"Because I'm decorating." I replied, "If you help me, you can sit on the cabnit over there." Souta laughed and went to help. 

An hour later we were finished. The living room looked great. There were streamers bordering the top of the walls. A bunting that said 'Happy Birthday!' on it was over the top of the window. We had put a red plastic table cloth on the coffee table and then put rainbow colored confetti on it.  
We walked back into the kitchen. "Kagome hasn't gotten back?" I asked. Mom shook her head. "Not yet." she replied, "Maybe you should check on her. I have no clue on what she could be doing." "Neither do I." I agreed, "I'll go check."  
"Hey sis can I come with you?" Souta asked. "You can't get through the well, remember?" I asked as I headed towards the well house. He followed after. "I want to try again." Souta insisted. I shrugged. "I guess you can." I said, "but I highly doubt you can get through."  
We were at the well now. "Ready?" I asked. Souta looked down the well uncertainly, but nodded. I climbed up onto the side of the well. He followed my example. "1-2-3!" I jumped. Souta followed me, but when I landed at the bottom of the well, he wasn't with me. Sighing, I jumped out of the well and headed towards the village.  
When I got there I saw the reason that Kagome hadn't gone through the well. There was a giant ugly earwig demon (for those who don't know what an earwig is, it's this ugly long black bug. They've got pinchers on their butt and when you get pinched it really hurts!). There were a few arrows in it, but it didn't seem to care. Also it only had three legs left. Inuyasha had managed to cut off the other three.  
But now it looked like they were having trouble. The earwig was between Inuyasha and the Tetsusaiga. It was also between Sango and her boomarang. Miroku's Wind Tunnel was useless. Naraku's poison insects were flying above. Who knew where Mikoto was. Probably off on one of his forest strolls. Too far to hear or smell the battle.  
Kagome sent one of her arrows flying at the earwig. When it struck there was a flash of blue light, but nothing much else happened. "Where's the damn shard, Kagome?!?!" Inuyasha demanded. "They's four of them!" she replied, "And they're all on its pinchers."  
"Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" Inuyasha yelled. It seemed to do something. But then the bug charged at Inuyasha. That wouldn't work. "SILVER CLAWED ROLLING STORM!" I yelled. My attack hit. The earwig stopped attacking Inuyasha and turned to me. That's what I wanted. Now Sango and Inuyasha could get their weapons.  
I readied myself for battle. With four shards the demon wouldn't be easy to beat. "WIND SCAR!" Inuyasha roared. The attack hit the earwig. It almost hit me too. I was only lucky by a foot or two. "Watch it would you?!" I demanded, "You almost killed me along with the bug!" "I don't think you want to be bug food right now!" Inuyasha yelled back, "Yeah." I replied, "Thanks." "Feh." he said walking towards the demon's remains, "Whatever. Where are the jewel shards Kagome?"  
"I've already got them." she replied holding up the four shards, "See?" Inuyasha nodded. "Well let's get back to the village." Miroku said eyeing Naraku's bugs that were flying away, "We've learned well enough not to follow those bugs." Sango nodded.  
"Mom wants Kagome home." I said, "That's why I came back." "Sorry." Kagome said, "But we were already battling the demon when Inuyasha got back here." "You mean that fight was going on that long?!" I asked suprised. "Afraid so." Miroku replied. "Who won the race?" Sango asked. I smiled. "Me." Inuyasha growled.  
"Where's Shippo?" I asked looking around. I hadn't seen him in the fight. "He went back to the village when we first saw the demon." Kagome said. "The kid's afraid of a little bug!" Inuyasha exclaimed, "He's pathetic!" "I wouldn't call that a little bug." I replied frowning, "It was huge!" "Yeah but still!" Inuyasha said. I saw that look on Kagome's face. "I suggest you stop talking right now." I warned him. He took one look at Kagome and shut up.  
"Ready?" I asked Kagome, "Because mom's going to start wondering what happened to us." Kagome nodded. "See you tomorrow!" she told the group. "Same!" I said waving. We set off back to the well.  
Kagome went through the well first. I was just about to follow when Mikoto walked into the clearing. "Hi!" I said jumping off the well. "Hello." He replied. Mikoto looked me over. "Did I miss a fight?" he asked. "Yeah." I replied, "How did you know?" My future mate pointed to my shoulder. Looking at it, I cringed. There was a nice gash there. "I didn't even see it." I told him, "I doesn't hurt or anything." I wiped some blood off. There was already a weak scab over it.  
"So it's healing." Mikoto noted. I nodded. "But it still needs to heal faster." he said. Mikoto leaned over and licked it gently. I giggled. The wound began to heal at a pace we could watch. "Thanks." I said, "Kagome's probably wondering where I went. I should go." He nodded. "Don't forget about tomorrow." Mikoto warned. "Why would I?" I asked, "I'll see you tomorrow." He nodded. I jumped into the well.

* * *

Inuyasha: How the hell did Kyo manage to get hurt?!?! The stupid bug didn't even touch her!

Kagome: Maybe it was the Wind Scar. You did do it pretty close to her...

Shippo: Yeah.

Inuyasha: Shut up kid. You weren't even there.

Sango: I bet it was the Wind Scar. There's no other way she could have gotten hurt.

Inuyasha: You're not going to sit me or anything are you, Kagome?

Kagome: It wasn't your fault Kyo got hurt. Don't worry I won't sit- {big thump} Sorry!

Inuyasha:...

Kagome: Kyo's party is going to be a lot of fun!

Shippo: I want to go!

Kagome: If you could get through the well you'd be invited.

Inuyasha: I can't believe how stupid your kid brother is, Kagome. He tried to get through the well!

Kagome: He wanted to visit you. You know that you're his hero.

Inuyasha: I am? Cool! I guess I am cool enough to be someone's hero. I mean, I've got the looks, the strength, hell, I've got everything!

Shippo: Besides the other half of the demon blood.

Inuyasha: {hits Shippo over head}

Shippo: Kagome! Inuyasha hurt me!

Sango: I think you deserved that, Shippo.

Miroku: You know that comment doesn't bode well with Inuyasha.

Inuyasha: You're damn right it doesn't.

Clear Waters: Okay! R&R everybody! Sorry it's been a while since I updated!


	5. Party Time

The Third Family

* * *

Waaaah! Only 4 reviews this time around. I'm sad. Boy I'm spoiled. 

**LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- **Come along to the party! Read read! You might be surprised on who actually does show up in the story!

**Dragon Man 180- **Don't worry. Kyo'll have fun at the party. And I don't even know how Kyo got the scratch, but I'm leaning towards the Wind Scar excuse

**ZeldaAlly- **ICE CREAM!!!! Thanks! I'll eat it with my cake!

**Kyou- **Yeah! Party!!

* * *

"That took you a while." Kagome commented when I jumped out of the well. "Mikoto came by just as I was about to jump." I explained. "Oh." she replied, "Well let's go. " "Souta tried to use the well again today." I commented on our way to the house, "It's a good thing he didn't make it though." "Yeah." Kagome agreed, "I can just see Souta getting chased by that earwig." I nodded and we laughed.  
"Oh good, you're back." mom said as we walked into the kitchen. I was starting to get worried." "We had a little problem with a demon at the village." Kagome said, "Sorry." "It's alright." mom replied, "Come and see the cake. Tell me if you like it." We walked over to the kitchen table.  
The cake was huge! "It's three layers thick." mom told us, "Vanallia flavored cake with rasberry filling in between each layer." The cake was covered in white icing with little pink flowers around the edge of the cake. Then with pink jell, mom had spelled, 'Happy Sweet Sixteen Kyo!' on the top. "I love it!" I exclaimed, "Thanks so much mom!" She beamed. "I'm glad you like it." she replied.  
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Kagome asked. "Clean up your room." Mom instructed, "You too Kyo. And don't try to tell me your friends won't want to see your rooms." We sighed and went to do what we were told. 

The first guest arrived at six. It was Kinomo. "Hi!" she said walking in, "Am I the first one here?" "Yeah." I said starting to close the door. "Don't you close that door on me!" Josh said slipping through the narrowing opening. "Sorry." I said, "Didn't see you there." He rolled his eyes, walking over to Kinomo and hugging her. They had been going out for a year. Originally Josh had asked me out, but I said no. Of course I didn't tell him about Mikoto. Now we were just very good friends.  
There was a second knock on the door. Opening it I saw Tsukonee. "Hello hello." he said walking in, "Where should I put the present?" "Yeah." Kinomo said, "Where?" Looking around the living room, I spotted a good place. Next to the "TV." I replied. "I brought music too." Josh said holding out a cd.  
Taking it, I looked at the cover. 'The Cat's Meow' I read. It was a cd he had burned himself. I smacked him lightly on the head with it. Josh laughed. He had never stopped teasing me since the day I told them I was a cat hanyou. "It has some good songs on it." Josh told me, "Try it." I nodded and put it in the cd player.

By 6:30 everyone was here except for one person. In the three years I had gone to school, I had become pretty popular. Maybe not popular as having a bunch of people follow you around, but popular like everyone knew my name and considered me a friend. Mom had brought out snacks and the party was going great. Josh had been right. There were some good songs on his mix.  
My last awaited guest burst through the door. "Lil-chan!" I said happily. "Hi." my friend greeted. Her full name was Lil Cat Anime. Lil's the only one I know who has a middle name in the school. "Sorry I'm late." Lil said, "I had a little trouble with homework and I wanted to finish it before I came." "It's all right." I assured her. She handed me my present and wandered off to join the others.  
I had invited Kagome's friend Eri, Ayumi, and Yuka, not only because they had become my friends, but also because I didn't want Kagome to have a few of her own friends here too. Also they could help make my party better. They were older. They had expirience with parties like these.  
The lights flipped off. "Cake time!" mom announced coming in with the cake. Everyone cheered and began singing Happy Birthday. I walked over to the cake. When everyone was finished singing I blew out the candles and everyone cheered again. Mom began to pass out cake.

I fell onto my bed, absolutely and utterly tired. It was eleven thirty and Kinomo, the last guest, had just left. I had to admit, the night had been a lot of fun. After everyone finished their cake, Yuka declared it was time to dance. Then Eri insisted I had to dance with every boy I had invited.  
Then everyone got a little silly and we played little kid games like musical chairs and red light green light. Somehow mom came out with a pin the tail on the donkey board so we played that too. Finally when we were finished playing, we just returned to talking and dancing. The night had been great.  
Someone knocked on my door. "Come in!" I called. Mom walked in. "Did you have a good time?" she asked. "Yeah." I replied. "That's good." she said, "Sorry that you couldn't go on your vacation with Mikoto today." "How'd you know about that?" I asked. "How could I not know?" mom asked, "You go with him on a vacation every year on your birthday."  
"I'm going tomorrow." I told her. "Any hints this year?" mom questioned. I had told her my hints every year and mom had tried to help me figure out where I was going. "Just to pack a lot." I replied. "So you'll be gone a while." mom said thoughtfully, "So you'll probably be going far away." I nodded.  
"Well, Mikoto will tell you where you're going in the morning." she told me, "And when you get back I want to know all about the trip, okay?" "Yeah." I said, "I promise to tell you all about it." Mom left my room and I got ready for bed.

* * *

Kagome: I'm so glad Kyo had a good birthday!

Inuyasha: Feh. I could care less.

Shippo: Kyo promised to bring back cake.

Sango: If she promised then she'll bring it.

Miroku: Yes. Kyo is very reliable.

Clear Waters: It's about time I came up with a chapter that had to do with the story. That race could have been a side story. Not a chapter.

Inuyasha: Now she gets the difference between a side story and the main plot. ABOUT TIME!

Clear Waters: Oh be quiet.

Shippo: Yeah. You just didn't like that chapter because Kyo beat you in the race.

Inuyasha: Yeah, what if that's the reason?

Sango: You just admitted it.

Inuyasha: Yeah, so?

Shippo: Inuyasha just admitted to something!

Miroku: That's good. Now we just have to get him to admit his love for Kagome. And it wouldn't be that bad if we could get Kagome to admit her love for Inuyasha.

Inuyasha & Kagome: WHAT?!?!?

Inuyasha: Shut up monk!

Kagome: I do not love Inuyasha! See? SIT BOY!

Clear Waters: Kagome, I'd like to talk to you about flooring bills.

Kagome: Oh. Sorry!

Clear Waters: R&R everybody!


	6. Saying Good Bye

The Third Family

* * *

**LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- **I just had to use Lil Cat Anime. I couldn't help it. I think this is too important to let it wait till I write another chapter of The Song Book. {Gets on knees} I'M REALLY REALLY SORRY IF I UPSET YOU! To tell you the truth I might have checked your profile before it went up. (I check for reviews like every five minutes so I probably found your review right after you posted it) I do think what you wrote is a big deal! THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH! 

**Dragon Man 180- **It's mountain money in girl scouts too. I'll think about it {snickers} This is going to be good.

**Heart of Friendship- **That's strange. Oh well. I hope you update soon! Email me and I'll see what I can do, but I'm not sure if I'll need another character. Maybe you could give me some ideas.

**Lenipez sideshow- **All parties are fun!

**Mystic Bynd- **Actually it will be both. You'll see how I do it.

**Cirrus- **Read! Then you'll know where Kyo's going!

**KG the oven mit fanatic- **Why are you chewing on me?! I think you need to lay off the caffine and get some sleep. I agree with you.

**Sorona-** No. Kyo's bringing the cake... all half of it that's left. -.-; Mrs. Higurashi made the cake a little too big. {grabs cookies} Thank you! Kagome is paying for the floor. {evil grin}

**Kyou- **Smart one... That's alright I've done it before. Your gecko's pooping on you? Oh my. Eww.

**ZeldaAlly- **You're back in school? {pats} I feel bad for you. I don't have to go back till the 13th. Think of it this way. I might be doing it a lot till I get into school so you'll have things to look foreward to when you get home.

**SkyeFire-Katana- **Thank you for the complements. I hope you keep on enjoying my characters.

**Wolf of Fire- **Here's the update!

* * *

I looked down at my three duffle bags full of clothes and my backpack full of other useful things. "I'll help you with some of this stuff." Kagome said picking up one of the duffle bags. "Thanks." I replied, picking up the remain two bags the the pack. "What did you put in all these?" the miko asked, "Mikoto's going to be annoyed when he sees how much you've packed."  
"No he won't." I said, "He told me to pack alot so it's his fault if he doesn't like it." Looking down at my full hands, I sighed. "Could you take another bag?" I questioned, "I have to take the rest of the cake too. I promised Shippo." Kagome nodded and took another bag. "I'll be through the well." she called. I walked back into the kitchen and picked up the cake container.  
Mom was in the kitchen. "Have a good time, alright?" she asked. "Sure thing." I replied. "And make sure Kagome knows to bring that pan back." mom said gesturing to the cake container. "I'll make sure." I said kissing her on the cheek. "I'd write to you and the others, but you can't do the in the feudal era." I commented. Mom laughed. "I know." she replied. 

Mikoto was waiting for me at the well. He took the cake and sniffed it. "What is this?" Mikoto asked, "It smells good." "It's a cake." I replied, "You'll like it." We began walking to the village. "Where are we going this year?" I asked causually after a moment of silence.  
My future mate stopped and looked at me. "I guess this is a good time to tell you." he said, "We won't being coming back, Kyo." I looked at him strangly. "Why?" "We're going to my castle. Your castle soon." I nodded. I guess I had known this was going to happen. "We can still visit our friends, right?" I asked. "Of course." Mikoto said ruffling my hair, "Now let's go. The others are probably wondering where we are."

Shippo jumped on me when we got the the village. "Did you bring the cake?" he asked. I smiled and gestured to Mikoto. Shippo jumped onto him to get a better look. "It looks yummy!" the kid exclaimed, "What type is it? Is it chocolate? Who made it?" I laughed. "Calm down!" I insisted, "It's a vanallia cake which means it's not chocolate, but there's rasberry filling in it too, my mom made it."  
"Can I have some?" Shippo asked. I dropped my bag and pack with the others Kagome had brought and took the cake back from Mikoto. "We can all have some." I replied, "Let's go into Kaede's house and get some plates though."  
Five minutes later Kaede, Sango, Miroku, Kagome, Shippo, Mikoto, Inuyasha, and I were enjoying the rest of mom's cake. "This is really good!" Inuyasha said eating his quickly. "So what's better?" I asked, "Ramen or cake?" "Ramen." came the cool reply.  
"I like the cake better." Miroku replied. Everybody besides him and Inuyasha nodded in agreement. Inuyasha groaned. "So I'm alone in this matter?" he asked. "Looks like it." I replied.  
"Where's Mikoto taking you this year, Kyo?" Shippo asked. Mikoto and I exchanged glances. "I'm bringing Kyo to my castle." he replied. "About time." Inuyasha commented, "I was wondering when you were going to lug the cat away." I scowled at him. He scowled back. "That's not very nice." Kagome said.  
"And we will not be returning." Mikoto finished. "But Mikoto said we could visit." I added, standing up. As soon as I did this I found myself squished in between Sango and Kagome. "We'll miss you." Sango told me. Then to my surprise Miroku joined the hug. The joining part wasn't what surprised me, it was the fact that he wasn't groping either of the girls around me. "And I'll miss you too Lady Kyo." he said. I guess Shippo felt left out because he then jumped ontop of the whole group hug. We laughed.

"All ready to go?" Mikoto asked me. He had placed all my bags except my backpack, which I wore, on a transformed Taoa, leaving just enough room for me to still ride. "Pretty much." I said, "If we're not coming back, then I've got to say good by to my family." "You mean go through the well?" my future mate questioned. I nodded.  
"Then go ahead." Mikoto said, "But do you think I could get through too?" I thought it over. "There's no reason why you can't try." I replied, "But the only ones who can get through usually are me, Kagome, and Inuyasha. If you can't get through, I'll just be a few minutes, I hope." He nodded and we jumped into the well.

When I landed at the bottom of the well I was very surprised to see Mikoto next to me. "You got through!" I exclaimed. He shrugged. "I guess the well thought I was worthy enough." "Then you have to meet my mom, grandpa, and little brother." I said jumping out of the well. Mikoto did too.  
I led him to the house. "Mom?" I called walking through the front door, to the kitchen. Mom looked up from a book. "Oh Kyo!" she exclaimed, "Did you forget something?" "No." I replied, pushing Mikoto into the room gently. He had seemed reluctant to go in on his own, "I wanted you to meet someone."  
Mom looked Mikoto over from his brown ears to his toes and beamed. "Is that Mikoto?" she asked cheerfully. "Yeah." I replied, "Mikoto, this is my mom. Mom, this is Mikoto." Mikoto bowed. "It is a pleasure to meet the woman my mate calls mother." he said politely. Mom giggled.  
"Is gramps and Souta around?" I asked. "Grandpa's in the shrine." she replied, "Souta isn't home from school yet, but he should be soon. So where are you two going this year?" "To Mikoto's castle." I replied, "But mom..." I trailed off. "What is it?" she asked. "We're not coming back." I finished.  
I could see the sadness in mom's eyes. "You will come to visit, won't you?" she asked. "As much as we can." I answered. I hugged her. "I'll miss you a lot mom." I whispered, "You showed me what it was to have a real life." Mom nodded. "Go say good bye to your grandfather." she instructed, "And be careful with Mikoto around him."

Grandpa was in the shrine like mom said he would be. "Grandpa?" I called. He looked up. "What is it, Kyo?" he asked. "There's someone I want you to meet." I said, "Please don't attack him." Grandpa walked up to Mikoto. "So this must be the much talked of Mikoto, eh?" he asked.  
Grandpa looked up sternly at him. "I know you're a demon." he said seriously, "This little girl my daughter's taken in is a half demon. If you ever descriminate her for what she is I swear I'll come and get you." "I promise not to descriminate Kyo." Mikoto said nodding. I was really surprised. Grandpa attacking Mikoto with his 'anti-demon' charms was what I had expected, not them coming to terms.

I saw Souta running up the stair to the house on the way back from the shrine. "Hey Souta!" I called, "Come meet Mikoto!" The kid ran up to us. "Hi!" he said cheerfully, "Are you really a full cat demon? I like your ears!" Mikoto laughed. "Yes." he answered, "I am a full cat demon."  
"I won't be seeing you for a while, Souta." I said sadly. "You're going on your vacation, right?" he asked playing with my ears. "Yes." I replied, "But I'm not coming back." Souta stopped rubbing. "Why?" he asked, "This is your home!" "But I'm marrying Mikoto." I explained using human terms, "And then I'm going to live at his house in the feudal era."  
A tear dribbled down Souta's face. "But you're my sister!" he cried, "I'll miss you!" I hugged him. Over the years I had come to see him as my brother. "I'll miss you more I bet." I said hugging him. I wanted to make this a game. "I don't think so!" Souta replied. I smiled. "I'll come and visit a lot." I told him, "And maybe I'll bring you presents. Would you like that?" He nodded. "Good." I said. Mikoto and I went back to the well house. I could feel Souta watching us as we left. I would miss my adoptive family more than they'd ever imagine.

* * *

Kagome: How sad. 

Clear Waters: It's longer than normal.

Inuyasha: So?

Sango: The readers will be happy.

Clear Waters: I know!

Sango: Miroku, I'm proud of you.

Miroku: Why is that, dear Sango?

Sango: Because you didn't grope me, Kagome, or Kyo while we were hugging.

Miroku: You're right... I didn't.

Shippo: Maybe Miroku's getting through his perverted ways.

Kagome: Unlikely.

Inuyasha: Feh. Yeah!

Clear Waters: R&R everyone!


	7. Fighting Alone

The Third Family

* * *

**Dragon Man 180- **Sesshoumaru doing the hula? I want to see that! I thought about Grandpa freaking out like normal, but I decided to do something unusual. Mikoto and Kyo doing Catnip? That's like doing drugs! 

**Kyou- **Yes. I wanted it sad. As for your gecko... ewww. Yucky!

**Wolf of Fire- **Don't worry about getting all stary eyed about the castle. I did it too. I can't stop thinking about how to describe it.

**ZeldaAlly- **Most should be up by then... Well for me. I don't know about time differences for you.

**Mystic Bynd- **Takes check No hard feelings. Kagome's been paying for it lately.

**Heart of Friendship- **I read your chapter. Yeah! Good good good! You know, I'm very surprised that you haven't found any spelling mistakes. I'm still convinced I can't spell for beans.

**Cirrus- **I capitalized it for you. {hands coffee, coke, tea, and chocolate bar} There. I don't know what you like, but all these things are packed with caffine.

* * *

Mikoto and I had been riding on Taoa for about an hour, high above the clouds. I have to admit that I was sad about leaving my family and friends and had just stopped crying only a few minutes ago. Most of the time I would take the front seat on Taoa but today Mikoto had taken it for two reasons. One, he knew where we were going. Two, I could cry into his shirt that way. Now Mikoto had a big wet spot on it.  
But in the long shot I wasn't upset about my choice of becoming Mikoto's mate. He was nice and caring and he'd make my life happy. "Finished mourning yet?" Mikoto asked me. "Yeah." I replied, "I have been for a while now." "That's good." he said, "I was wondering, would you like to stop for lunch? There's a river below us and it would be a good place to stop." "Sounds good to me." I answered.  
We touched down in an opening a little off from the river. "So what did you pack for lunch?" I asked getting off Taoa and helping Mikoto take the packs off her. "You'll see." he replied. As soon as the last bag was taken off, Taoa reverted back to her little form and promptly fell asleep. I giggled.  
"Taoa's not used to carrying all that weight." I commented, "I think we wore her out." "I bet we did." Mikoto agreed, taking a large basket out of the pile of bags, don't forget he had his own too. He handed me a nice big turkey sandwich and a container of tea. "The wrappings from your time are amazing." Mikoto commented, pulling the plastic off his sandwich. "They are." I agreed.  
"So what did you bring with you?" he asked, "I hope you brought more than those tank tops and sweat pants you like so much because my parents won't approve of them. They'll think they're too revealing." "I did also bring some kimonos and the fire rat outfit that Inuyasha gave me." Mikoto nodded. "That's good." he said finishing off his sandwich.  
"That was fast." I commented. "It was." Mikoto agreed, "But I was hungry and now I think I will take a bath in the river. It looks very inviting." "Alright." I said, "I think I'll join Taoa and take a nap." "Then I think we can get a little more traveling done today." he said. "Yeah." I said. Mikoto walked towards the river. I grabbed one of my bags and pulled out my fleece blanket. I cuddled up on the ground using some moss as my pillow. 

I don't know how long I was napping, but I woke up to a tremendous roar. Opening my eyes I saw an absolutely ugly demon. It sort of looked like a big purple scull with a big fluffly pink tail. Forgetting the blanket, I jumped up, ready to make fast action out of the demon. But it got me first with it's tail, hitting me into a tree to my left. It was painful, but could have been worse.  
"The demon looks low enough to be able to be killed without my attack." I thought. Baring my claws, I launched myself at it. The demon didn't seem to even notice I was coming at it. My claws cut off part of its tail. It screamed in pain. Where I had cut of the tail became two tails. So maybe it was stronger than I thought.  
The two tails came at me. I dodged the first one, but couldn't with the second. Grabbing me with it's tail, the demon brought me to it's face. I cringed. Uglier than I could even imagine. It looked like I was going to be his lunch if I didn't do something. I began to squirm. It seemed like I was getting somewhere, but then the second tail grabbed me and there was nothing in my power I could do to free myself. Without use of my hands I couldn't use my attack or my claws.  
I could bite. I supposed that might work. So I tried it. The creature screamed and released me with one tail. Maybe things were looking up... but the tail came back and I was stuck again. I couldn't bit this time. The demon was smarter than it looked. It had placed it's tails where I couldn't bite again easily. It brought me towards it's face again. I was lunch and there was no way to prevent it.  
The demon exploded, throwing me back. Mikoto ran up, his hair still damp from the bath. "Are you alright?" he asked. "Yeah." I replied getting up, "Thanks a lot." "You're welcome." Mikoto replied. He swept me into a tight hug. "I came back and I saw you in that demon's grasp and I thought I was going to loose you." he whispered.  
"That little weak thing kill me?" I asked, "Impossible! I've still got 8 lives left!" Mikoto looked at me seriously. "I'm 120." he said, "It might be considered a teenager to demons, but it's still a long time. And in all those 120 years I have not lost a life. You may have 8 more lives, but don't go waisting them, alright?" I nodded. He squeezed me one more time and then let me go. "Sometimes I don't know if I can handle you." Mikoto told me.

* * *

Inuyasha: So the cat almost got herself killed again. What an idiot. 

Kagome: She didn't know that demon was going to sneak up on her.

Inuyasha: Kyo lived such a relaxed life. If that was me sleeping there I would have smelled the demon and woken up before it got to me. Hell, I wouldn't even be sleeping to begin with!

Kagome: Whatever. Poor Taoa's only three years old. She probably shouldn't be working that hard.

Sango: They were only flying for an hour. Taoa could probably do two without getting so tired she had to land. But it's good that Kyo knows when to stop and let her rest.

Inuyasha: Hey Clear Waters! You have one of those little black boxes that Kagome calls a TV?

Clear Waters: Yeah, but the cable's out.

Miroku: What does that mean?

Clear Waters: It means it doesn't work.

Inuyasha: So the little people in the box are taking a vacation.

Clear Waters: I guess you could say that... R&R everyone!


	8. More Traveling

The Third Family

* * *

**LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- **The Third Family will not be ending anytime soon. Kyo hasn't even gotten to the castle yet! I said the story would be about her getting used to a more 'proper' life. Don't worry. It technically hasn't even begun. I'll probably pull another 38 chapter story or more. ;

**Heart of Friendship- **So Sesshoumaru is KIKI's cousin! Okay. Thanks for straitening that out.

**Sorona- **Cookies! {finishes last one}Well I knew they weren't going to last forever. Kagome probably won't go broke... And if or when she does I'll just have Inuyasha pay for them! I'm evil.

**ZeldaAlly- **Mikoto is now that old. But as I said he's still young so it's alright for Kyo. They make such a cute couple! You have a puppy? Lucky! I want one, but I've got 2 cats so that wouldn't work too well.

**Dragon Man 180- ** I didn't want Taoa to wake up so I let her sleep. Pretend she was REALLY tired. Poor little cat. :(

**Kyou- **You hit your gecko?! Poor gecko. :( Well I guess Chibii did need punishing. But isn't not being allowed to read with you enough? Oh well. It's over and done with.

**Wolf of Fire- **Yes. evil demon thinger.

**Juean-Ya- **You're writing a fanfic? Cool! I can't wait to read it! It will be an Inuyasha one, right?

**Cirrus- **Oh sure you're not hyper. (SACASTIC) {Turns to Kenshin} Are you sure you want Battousai to fight Inuyasha? I mean he could also fight Sango, Kilala, Miroku, Kagome, Kyo, Mikoto, Sesshoumaru, heck her could even battle Naraku, Kanna, or Kagura! I suppose Battousai could fight with Lausanne too now, but it would be hard to talk her into that. {Grabs bunny and runs}

**WolfDemonOfTheNight/sesslover- **I love P.E.I! I went on a kayak tour there and we had mussels every night! (not one of my favorite foods though.) 53 new messages? ACK! Yes. Mikoto killed the demon. I guess I should have made that clearer. Mikoto just doesn't want Kyo dying for good so he wants her to be much more careful.

**Mystic Bynd- **-.-;;;;;;;;; I don't have a perverted mind so I didn't think about that. Mikoto's already dressed again. Did you just destroy my computer?!?!?! I thought we had a deal! I write a sequel, you don't break my computer!

* * *

As Mikoto suggested, we ended up traveling another hour that day. My back was a little sore still from getting slammed into the tree, but that didn't keep me from talking with Mikoto and being generally annoying. I chatted with him for about half the ride and when it was evident that he no longer wanted to talk, I tried to tickle him into laughter and played with his cute cat ears. I was rewarded with a cute purr for that one.  
A thought occurred to me. "Mikoto?" I asked, "If you're a full demon, then why do you have animal ears like a hanyou?" "I inherited them from my mother." Mikoto replied, "She was a half demon. Everyone was surprised that I was born full blood." "Oh." I said, "Well I like them. They're cute." "Cute?" he repeated, "I'm not sure 'cute' is the best characteristic of someone who will rule over such a huge domain in time. People are supposed to fear me."  
I laughed. "Fear you?" I asked, "Who could fear you? I've never even seen you raise your hand to a flea!" "I can be very cold if I wish." Mikoto replied, "It's just that I found no reason to show you or our friends that part of me." "I don't think I want to see that side of you." I mumbled, burying my head into the back of his shirt.  
"Now your ears." Mikoto said playfully leaning back and tugging on one, "Can be considered cute because they are." I giggled.

We stopped later that night in another clearing in the forest. Mikoto had gone to catch us some dinner and left me after a small disagreement that went like this. _"I'm going to hunt." Mikoto told me after we had built up a small fire, "I want you to come with me. No one will attack you while you're under my watch."  
"I'm tired." I said, "I want to stay here. And someone has to anyway to make sure that the fire doesn't burn down the whole forest. No one will attack me. If they do Taoa will protect me." "She didn't protect you last time." Mikoto pointed out. "She was sleeping." I retorted. "She's sleeping now." he pointed out.  
I picked Taoa up and put her on my lap where she continued her nap. "I'm protected." I said bluntly. Mikoto sighed. "You better be right." he said walking into the forest, "I'll be back as quickly as possible."  
_ That had only been ten minutes ago. Even a great hunter like Mikoto wouldn't be able to catch something that quickly. I decided to take advantage of the solitude. Walking over my bags, which we had stuck in the shadows, I pulled out a pretty purple kimono and changed into it.  
The kimono had been a fifteenth birthday gift from Josh. He had jokingly told me he was giving me kimono as a present. Then Josh corrected himself. "Kinomo." he said, "I'm giving you Kinomo." The joke had been lame, even then, but we had all laughed after Kinomo knocked him in the back of the head.  
It was getting colder now and the kimono itself wouldn't be able to keep me warm. I pulled out the pale pink over kimono that went with it. The pink was so light that it was practically white.

"I'm back!" Mikoto announced holding up a large white rabbit. "That was fast." I commented walking back into the light of the fire. He looked me over. "That's the first time I've seen you in a kimono." he commented, "It looks really good on you. In fact you're beautiful." "I'm not beautiful." I insisted blushing. "But you are!" Mikoto said, "With your hair down like that and that over kimono on you look like a goddess!" I blushed harder.  
Mikoto, seeing this laughed. "I'll skin and gut dinner and they you'll cook it. Alright?" "Okay." I said, trying to fight the blush that was still continuing to brighten.

* * *

Inuyasha: It's short wench.  
  
Clear Waters: I'm sorry. Who wants to go to the beach?!  
  
Kagome; Sango; Shippo; Miroku: I do!  
  
Inuyasha: Feh. I don't want to.  
  
Kagome: Oh come on Inuyasha! I know you liked the beach last time you were here!  
  
Inuyasha: Things change.  
  
Clear Waters: I'll buy you ice cream. I know you liked that.  
  
Inuyasha: Ice cream? Well if everyone else is going I guess I'll go. But just because I don't want to be left alone in this stinky house.  
  
Clear Waters: Hey! I own this 'stinky house'! And for your information it smells like the beach. It's supposed to. No ice cream for you.  
  
Inuyasha: Wha?!?!  
  
Shippo: Can I have Inuyasha's ice cream?  
  
Clear Waters: Of course! R&R everyone! Let's go to the beach!  
  
Kagome: Hey Sango! Have you seen the tanning oil?  
  
Inuyasha: No ice cream?!  
  
Sango: It's in the bathroom.  
  
Inuyasha: What the hell?!?!? Clear Waters get over here! I want the ice cream!!!!!!  
  
Kagome: Please Inuyasha!  
  
Inuyasha: What bitch!  
  
Kagome: Forget it. Sit! ... Ooops. {People from downstairs apartment look up through hole.} Sorry!  
  
Clear Waters: Kagome! Could I have that check now?  



	9. The Village

The Third Family

* * *

**LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- **{glows with pride from complement} And you are my first and favorite reviewer.

**WolfDemonOfTheNight/sesslover- **I'm not a fan of lobster either. Over all, I'm not much of a seafood eater. When I went kayaking I was so little that I couldn't paddle and sat in one of the little luggage compartments. -.-;;;;; That was a long time ago, but I still remember it.

**Dragon Man 180- **How much has Kagome paid for floor damage. I don't even remember. Ask her. Inuyasha might know too. Yes, I don't think of Sesshoumaru as 'cute' either, but he doesn't have cat ears and Mikoto does so that might be our reasoning.

**Lenipez sideshow- **Great big castle, lots of interesting people. From trouble makers to stern old people in fact. But they won't be getting there for a while. Sorry. I like your idea. I could just see Shippo driving one of my planned characters insane. Evilness.

**DarkPirate-510-** You really don't know much about Mikoto. I mean everyone knows he's very kind to Kyo, but not much else. We now know that he's powerful enough to kill a minor demon in one sweep of who knows what but still, not much is known. That's why I made this story! You will see in time what Mikoto's like around other people.

**Heart of Friendship- **You'll see Mikoto's parents... In a way. Don't want to give too much away! I know I switched kimono and Kinomo. Remember Kyo's friend Kinomo? Yes it was a stupid old joke that Josh made.

**Kyou- **I don't do lemons! Don't worry. Kyo will be very surprised with the castle. As for Chibii, YOU LEFT HIM IN THE KITCHEN A FEW HOURS AGO?!?!

**Mystic Bynd- **Did you or did you not destroy my computer?

* * *

"Are we planning to stop anytime soon?" I asked Mikoto. Today we had been walking on foot, starting at dawn and I hadn't bothered to change back into my normal sweatpants and shirt. It was even harder to walk in a kimono. The time was now roughly around one in the afternoon and we hadn't stopped for lunch. Taoa was trekking behind us, our packs on her back like usual.  
"Soon." Mikoto assured me, "There's a little village around here. We'll stop there. I was there a few times when I was younger. You'll like it. Are you tired? If you are you should ride Taoa."  
I shook my head. "I'm not tired." I replied, "I was just wondering. And we haven't had lunch yet. Could we stop here and continue our way towards this village after lunch?" Mikoto grinned. "No." he said, "We have to get there for our meal." "Why?" I asked. "You'll see." he answered, "We'll be there in less than an hour. "Then we're two hours late for lunch!" I pointed out. "That's alright." Mikoto said, "They serve dinner late at the village." "Why?" I asked. He grinned wider. "You'll see." Mikoto told me.

True to his word, we arrived at a small village in a little under an hour. The town was a little strange. Sure I could see the houses of the villagers, of the village miko/priestess, and the shrine, but there were pavilion looking things in the main part of the village. There were women sweeping them out, seeming to be getting ready for something.  
"Is today some sort of special day?" I asked. "No." Mikoto replied. "Then what are they getting ready for?" I questioned. "They have community dinners every night here." he explained, "And after dinner is music and dancing. Also, they're very used to getting travelers here. We'll stay at the inn. It's very nice." "I'd think so if they're used to entertaining lots of travelers." I replied.  
"So where's the inn?" I asked. Mikoto pointed to the building which I had thought was the shrine. "Then where's the shrine?" I continued, "I thought that was it." "They don't have a shrine here." he replied, "They're not very religious in this town. If the villagers want to pray then they go to their miko's house. It has a small table set up there with incense and such." "That's different." I commented. "It is." Mikoto agreed.  
We made our way to the inn, now carrying our bags with little Taoa following us. "Two rooms please." Mikoto ordered from the innkeeper. He seemed very old. "Aye. Young demon, ye look familiar." he commented, "Have ye been this way before." "Yes." Mikoto replied.  
"Have ye a preferred room then?" the innkeeper asked. "Room three is always nice." my future mate said, "I will take it?" "And the young lady demon, where would she like?" "Room four." Mikoto told the innkeeper. He nodded. "Right this way." the old man said.  
The innkeeper led us to two rooms that were across from each other. First we went to Mikoto's room. Room three was nice. The walls were white washed. A large, soft futon was in one corner. In another corner there was a low writing table with a pillow as a seat. There were unlit lamps around the room. On the opposite side of the room from the door the middle of the wall was entirely made of windows. Opening them, I saw the pavilions being readied for dinner.  
"Could you close the window, Kyo?" Mikoto asked, "It's the middle of the winter and it's cold outside. It might not effect you or I, but it seems to be upsetting our host." I nodded, closing it.  
My room was just as nice. The walls were painted a bit of a rose color. I guessed they had mixed white wash and some berry together to get it. I too had a big soft futon and a writing desk with unlit lamps around the room. And the middle of the far wall was also made out of windows. This time I waited for our host to leave before checking my view.  
My windows overlooked the garden. It was the middle of December so the garden was grey and covered with frost.  
Taoa somehow knew this was my room and walked over to my futon, snuggling up for sleep in a cute little ball of fur. "I'm guessing dinner will start in a few hours." Mikoto told me, "And both of us are hungry so let's go find something to eat." "Yeah." I said putting my bags down. I followed him out of the room.

We found an old lady carrying some sliced venison to the pavilion. "Could we have some of that meat?" Mikoto asked. She looked us over. "Demons are ye?" she asked. I was getting ready for the woman to either scream and run away or attack. "Yes." came Mikoto's calm response. "Then eat, eat!" she said happily holding the plate out to us, "It seems demons are always hungry!"  
Both of us took a few slices each. I took one extra for Taoa. She'd be hungry too. "Thank you very much." I said bowing politely. "No problem, demoness." the lady replied. Mikoto and I turned to go back to the inn. "There's a well near the dinner houses if ye are thirsty." the woman told us.

Mikoto walked into my room as I fed the piece of venison to Taoa. "Dinner will be in an hour." he told me. He eyed my clothes. "And you might want to change." Mikoto added, "Don't get into your usual clothes though. Another kimono. You'll fit in more that way." I looked at my kimono and grinned. It was wet and muddy from our walk. Something clean would be nice. "Alright." I said nodding, "I'll be ready then.

* * *

Miroku: Dinner. I wonder what they'll have.  
  
Clear Waters: Speaking of dinner, it's our dinner time now!  
  
Inuyasha: Ramen?  
  
Clear Waters: No. I had ramen for lunch.  
  
Kagome: Wait a second. We had turkey sandwiches at the beach. Where'd you get the ramen?  
  
Inuyasha: You mean when you left the beach and went back to the house to get some play toys for Shippo you were really getting ramen? Why the hell didn't you bring some back for me?!?!  
  
Clear Waters: Because you had some for breakfast and there was only one serving left.  
  
Inuyasha: So we're out of ramen?  
  
Clear Waters: Basicly.  
  
Inuyasha: Damn.  
  
Kagome: Now you can try some new foods. I'll bet there's some other things you'll like out there.  
  
Sango: Yeah. Like pizza. I found that very good.  
  
Miroku: And that hot pretzel!  
  
Shippo: That piece of apple pie was really really good too! Can I have more after dinner?  
  
Clear Waters: We're going for ice cream after dinner. R&R everyone!  
  
Inuyasha: But what about the ramen?  



	10. Dancing

The Third Family

* * *

**ZeldaAlly- **A dog all of your own. You don't know how lucky you are. Ally, if you're reading this... You must be the most adorable puppy in the whole entire world! As for your little brother. Siblings are plain old annoying.

**Heart of Friendship- **Ideas for winds of change? Hmm. Well, Rain with Sesshy&co were featured last time so you should probably next have Kiki with Inu&co feature in the next chapter. You could have them fight a demon. Perhaps they run into Koga. Maybe even Kagura! O.O You could have us see Kiki's skills. Sort of like how we first saw Kyo fight. She's supposed to stay out of the fight "'cause it ain't her business" but she helps out when direly needed. Or maybe you just have another episode of talk and we get to know Kiki better. Did that help?

**Wolf of Fire- **Short I know. At first I was going to have the dinner be in the chapter too, but I cut it into two chapters for two reasons. 1. I didn't want the chapter to be too long. (Yes, I'm quite aware my chapters are short.) 2. I didn't have enough ideas pulled together yet.

**Dragon Man 180- **I decided to put in this nice town that doesn't discriminate because I felt bad for all those poor youkai and hanyous out there in the fiction world that can't do anything without getting wounded or their feelings hurt.

**love-bracelet123- **It would be nice if Kyo and Mikoto could have a dinner like that, but not in this village. I've already explained that this village is in to 'community dinners'. They'll have their candle lit dinner when they get to the castle.

**KG the oven mit fanatic- **I've decided (don't ask me why) not to have Kyo and Mikoto get to the castle until after I get back from vacation. OH! I remember now. Shhhhhh! It's a secret. A tent on my computer screen? Cool! {Sees where tent is located and laughs.} You might ask what's so funny. Well you see my background is of a Porsche driving up through the mountains in Switzerland. And your tent would be on the peak of a mountain. Very funny. Might I suggest moving your tent to the bottom right? There's some nice grass there.

**LiL:.CaT:.Anime- **Is Scott an alien? O.o;

**Lenipez sideshow- **The village isn't hiding anything. At least I don't think it is. Mikoto said that he's been there before so he'd know if something was amiss there. As for getting to the castle. They won't be there till earliest Sunday, latest, Wednesday.

DarkPirate-510- No... I don't do crossovers. Though can you see an Inuyasha/The Village crossover? that would be a REAL horror flick.

Mystic Bynd- Ramen tied to a stick. I suggest that the string you use to tie it to be about the length of a high rise building. That way Inuyasha can't attack you. DID YOU DESTROY MY COMPUTER?!?! I am not going to let your forget about that review until you answer my question.

Cirrus- You've been sick? Ohhhhhhh! {Hands chicken noodle soup} As for your rabbit {Hands rabbit back in metal cage.} There. Now you can't eat it so you can have it back.

ThunderingWolfDemonOfTheNight- Sango's boomerang? Umm.... I'll have to get back to you on that. I don't have my info file with me at the moment. I'm on vacation. Hot dogs... I like hot dogs! Good idea! But not in the next chapter. If you read the bottom coversation you'll see why.

Sorry to ThunderingWolfDemonOfTheNight, Cirrus, Mystic Bynd, and DarkPirate-510 for not bolding your names. It wouldn't let me for some odd reason. {Wacks computer.}

* * *

I looked through my bags, wondering what I should wear for dinner. Because Mikoto had told me that they had community dinners everyday I didn't suppose it was very formal. I pulled out a dark blue kimono. Perfect. Grabbing a few hairpins I was able to pull my hair into a sloppy bun.  
"Do I look good, Taoa?" I asked my pet. She mewed in response. I smiled. Pulling out a small brush, I began to brush her hair. Taoa purred happily. My door was pushed open. I turned to see Mikoto. "Ready for dinner?" he asked, "It's beginning." "Okay." I said putting down the brush.  
I stood up. Taoa mewed at me again. Laughing, I picked her up. "Can Taoa come with us?" I asked. "Of course." Mikoto replied. We made our way down to the dinner pavilions. Now the women had finished sweeping them out. Some were now bringing food out and placing them on tables. Others were lighting torches in brackets around the pavilions.  
"This is so cool!" I exclaimed happily. I put down Taoa and hugged Mikoto. He grinned. Mikoto enjoys my random acts of affection like that. We walked over to the tables full of food. There were some people serving themselves so we grabbed plates and filled them up with delicious food.  
Every pavilion, save one, had a long table piled with food, and a bunch of tables set up for eating. I wondered why the villagers had left one empty. Shaking away my curiosity, I grinned. The food was served like lunch at school. Finished getting our food, we found two seats at a table and began to eat.  
"How many more days until we get to your castle?" I asked. "I don't know kitten." Mikoto admitted. He still used the old nickname at times, "It really depends on how much we travel each day and the weather. Things like that."  
"Then tell me about your parents." I requested, "You know, you've never talked about them." "My mom, as I told you, was a hanyou. She died three years ago from some sort of sickness." "I'm sorry." I said quietly. "It's alright." he continued shrugging, "In fact if she hadn't died I wouldn't have met you. She was a beauty, I've got to say. Black hair, dark blue eyes, cat ears, I inherited those. My mother was nice, but awfully quiet. She didn't talk to anyone besides my father, a few servants, and me.  
My dad is where I got my looks. I'm an exact copy of him. Except for the ears of course. He's a little cold and demanding to people he doesn't know, but as soon as you've been around him for a while he'll treat you like his own daughter. I guarantee it."  
"He sounds nice." I said feeding a bit of chicken to Taoa, "I can't wait to meet him."After dinner I learned why one pavilion had not been used for dinner. A few village men pulled out instruments while some women lit more torches. "It's time to dance." Mikoto told me, "Does that sound good?" "Yes." I replied, "And fun! Let's go!  
We joined other couples on the dance floor. I stiffened when I saw how they were dancing. Not the 'shake your booty' type of dancing I was used to, but real dancing with special steps and such. "What step do you want to dance?" Mikoto asked.  
"I really don't know any dance steps." I admitted blushing a bit. "Well then I'll teach you." Mikoto said, "Dancing is very big in this village. The easiest way to look stupid is not being able to dance." He led me onto the dance floor.  
"I'll show you a simple step first." he told me, "Look at my feet." Mikoto moved his feet, stepping in a circular motion. He took three steps and started that pattern over again. "Do you think you can do that?" he asked. "Three steps?" I questioned laughing, "Of course!" "But can you do it without stepping on my feet, or tripping yourself or me?" Mikoto teased.  
"Let's see." I replied. I joined him in the simple step, watching our feet carefully. Of course it being my first time dancing, I did manage to step on Mikoto's feet a few times and half trip my self once. After a few minutes I had the step down though. "Now try it looking up." Mikoto said.  
"I'm not sure I can do that one." I replied. "You can." he assured me, "You seem to have figured the dance out, so just do it without looking down. I'm doing it. It's simple." I looked up unsurely. "I'm going to step on your foot any moment now." I told Mikoto bluntly. He shrugged.  
"You're too light to begin with." my future mate replied, "I don't think you could hurt one of my feet if you jumped on it with all your force." "I'm going to take that as a fact and not an insult." I said. "It wasn't supposed to be one." Mikoto answered. I cringed as I stepped on his food.  
"Kami Kyo!" he exclaimed laughing, "Relax! Dancing is supposed to be fun! Not stressful!" I blushed. "Now try again." Mikoto instructed. I tried dancing again. This time I stared strait into Mikoto's eyes. They assured me somehow. "That's it." Mikoto said, "You're doing it! And you're not stepping on me or tripping anybody!" "Not funny." I mumbled.  
"Excuse me." A young man said tapping me on the shoulder. Mikoto and I stopped dancing and I turned to him. "Yes?" I questioned. "Would you give me the honor of dancing with you?" I was about to answer no because I wasn't ready to dance with someone else when Mikoto growled a little bit.  
The young man swallowed nervously. "Uh, it seems like your partner wouldn't like that." he said. Then the boy ran off. "That wasn't very nice." I commented. Mikoto looked down at me. "You mean you actually wanted to dance with that man?" he asked. "No!" I said quickly, "I don't think I'm ready to dance with anyone besides you! It's just you could have been a little more polite."  
"You're right." Mikoto admitted, "Sorry. Instinct took over for a second. You're mine and I don't want anyone messing with you. I just want to protect you. You know that, right?" "Yes." I replied, hugging him, "Sorry I got snappy." "It's fine." he said, "Now do you want me to teach you another step?"  
"Another?" I asked laughing, "I'm not sure I could manage learning another tonight! Is it more difficult?" "Much." Mikoto replied, "But so much more fun. I'll show you." Still laughing, I watched him move his feet in a much faster, difficult pattern.

Much later that night Mikoto had been able to teach me a total of three dances. He was trying to teach me a fourth when something occurred to me. "Where's Taoa?" I asked frowning. "I haven't seen her since we began dancing." Mikoto admitted. "Let's go look for her." I said, "She's still pretty young. I don't want her getting lost."  
"Can you find her scent?" Mikoto asked, "I can't, but you know it a whole lot better than I do." "Just barely." I replied, "She's somewhere over there." I pointed right. We made our way towards where I had pointed. Outside the pavilion it was much darker, but it didn't make much of a difference for Mikoto and I. We can see in the dark.  
"There's a bond fire or something over there." I said, "I smell her there. Do you smell her?" "Yes." Mikoto replied. We began to walk towards the fire. "I hope she's okay." I said. "Do you see a big cat over there?" Mikoto asked me. "No." I replied. "Then she's fine." he pointed out, "Remember, Taoa's a fire cat. She likes fire and was probably attracted to the bonfire." "I guess you're right." I mumbled.  
When we reached the fire I could have laughed. The scene in front of me was cute enough. There were five young children, three boys, two girls, crowded around a purring Taoa. A few feet away was a mother, watching them. "Move over!" a boy said, "I can't get close to it! I want to pet it!" "You were just petting it!" another boy snapped, "Let someone else pet the cat!"  
One of the kids spotted us and gave a squeak of terror. The mother looked at us cautiously. "Please don't hurt us demons!" one of the kids cried. "We're not going to hurt you." Mikoto told them. "I just want my cat back." I explained. "Is the cat really yours?" one of the girls asked. "Yes." I replied, "Her name is Taoa and she's a demon fire cat."  
"Cool!" the third boy who hadn't spoken yet exclaimed. Taoa got up and walked over to me. "Transform." I told her. She did. The kids gasped in amazement. "Would it be okay if I gave the children rides?" I asked the mother, "Taoa's very gentle." The mother looked Taoa over. "Once around the fire." she replied.  
"Ohhhh!" the second girl exclaimed, "More than that mama! Please?" "Yeah Auntie!" one of the boys whined, "More than that!" A chorus of agreement was voiced through the other three kids. "Alright." the woman sighed, "Twice around the fire." I could tell that wasn't what the kids were hoping for, but it was more than the first agreement so they didn't complain.  
Mikoto helped the children onto Taoa. I led them around the fire twice then Mikoto took them off. "That was fun!" the first girl said, "Thank you demons." "Thank you." the other kids echoed. "No problem." I replied. Taoa changed back into her little state and we walked away.  
I yawned. "I bet you're tired." Mikoto commented, "We did a lot of dancing tonight." "I'm very tired." I agreed. "Then I'll walk you to your room." he said. I smiled. "I had a really good time tonight." I told him, "Thanks for keeping your patience with me and teaching to dance."  
"It was fun teaching you." Mikoto replied, "Now come on. I think if we don't hurry and get you to bed, you'll collapse on me." I laughed. "I'm not that tired." I insisted. "Really?" Mikoto asked playfully. I rolled my eyes.

* * *

Kagome: Kyo didn't know any dance steps? I don't think she got away from her real family soon enough.  
  
Clear Waters: Hey, I can't dance and I didn't have a childhood like Kyo's!  
  
Kagome: Then I feel bad for you.  
  
Sango: Why is Shippo's hair turning yellow?  
  
Clear Waters: He's using that stuff I gave him to turn it blond.  
  
Miroku: Before you know it he'll be looking like a mini Inuyasha with silver hair.  
  
Clear Waters: Sun in isn't that strong.  
  
Kagome: If it was then it would be able to be used on black hair.  
  
Sango: I'd like yellow hair.  
  
Clear Waters: We call it blond now days.  
  
Inuyasha: Did you get the ramen YET?!?!  
  
Clear Waters: Yes. {Throws ramen at Inuyasha.}  
  
Inuyasha: I can't make it myself wench!  
  
Clear Waters: Then it's time you learned.  
  
Inuyasha: Feh. Fine.  
  
Sango: This is going to be good.  
  
Kagome: Oh yeah.  
  
Clear Waters: I made popcorn! Want to watch with me?  
  
Kagome; Shippo; Miroku; Sango: Okay.  
  
Inuyasha: Where's the damn thing to boil water in?!?!  
  
Clear Waters: It's already on the stove Inuyasha.  
  
Inuyasha: What's the stove? Oh! The thing that shoots flames, right?  
  
Kagome: That's the one.  
  
Inuyasha: {Turns on stove with hand on burner.} AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!  
  
Shippo: That's got to hurt.  
  
Clear Waters: Watch Inuyasha complete the ramen in the next end chat! R&R everyone!  



	11. Snake Demons and Repeated Words

The Third Family

* * *

Wolf of Fire- You say you don't know how to dance that well, well I don't know how to dance AT ALL!

ZeldaAlly- Taoa. You spelled it right. Yeah! Wait. Your dog knows Taoa is a cat? That is the SMARTEST dog I have ever heard of! Yeah Ally!

Mystic Bynd- Don't forget that ramen is instant noodles soaked in water for a few minutes. To tell you the truth, I don't even think Inuyasha could mess that one up. (Well it'll be messy, but it should taste fine.) So you DID destroy my computer! {Holds out check for new computer} It's all yours.

DarkPirate-510- Don't worry. Formal dancing isn't as important as it used to be.

MidniteStar7- Me? An inspiration? Cool! Thanks! Tell me when you post your story! I'll review it. As for the spelling, it gets all of us. Especially me. -.-;;;;;;

love-bracelet123- I sort of used your idea. You'll see! Just read on.

LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- Haha... -.-;;;;;; Well there might be food on the floor. I mean everyone just finished eating. But that's the worst mistake I've ever made. I'll have to change it. -.-;;;;;

Now my stupid computer won't let me bold ANYONE'S name. Oh well.

* * *

I guess I was even more tired than I thought because I don't even remember Mikoto dropping me off at my room. Maybe I did fall asleep over his shoulder. The next thing I knew Mikoto was shaking me awake gently. "Come on kitten, wake up." he insisted. "Do I have to?" I mumbled.  
The demon laughed. "Yes." he replied, "I'll be back in a few minutes and then we'll go. Okay?" I pulled my head under the pillow and groaned in response. Mikoto said something, but I didn't hear it because a mix of him speaking quietly and the pillow. But the next thing I knew, little Taoa's jaws were closing on my arm. I pulled my arm away.  
"Okay?" Mikoto asked again, "And no sleeping in. Taoa will make sure you don't. We've got to get going." "Yeah." I said sitting up. Mikoto walked out of the room. Quickly, I got out of my kimono and changed into a pair of blue sweatpants and KO University sweatshirt. Perfect traveling clothes. Pulling my brush through my hair, I put it into a ponytail. It might have gotten my hair out of my eyes, but such a long ponytail isn't convenient either. I'd have to ask if Mikoto knew how to braid. Taoa watched me while I did this.  
Mikoto knocked on my door just as I was pulling my sneakers on. "Come in!" I called. He walked in and picked up my bags. I grabbed my backpack. "We'll put the packs on Taoa outside." Mikoto told me. "Alright." I replied.  
Outside the sun was shining and there weren't many clouds around. I was looking forward to flying today, even if it was the middle of December. I helped Mikoto put the bags on the back of transformed Taoa. The children who rode her the night before, plus some others, were looking out at us from a hut. I laughed. It was a comical scene.  
"Are you leaving already demons?" the woman that had given us the venison yesterday asked walking up with a man of equal age. I guessed he was her husband. "Yes." Mikoto replied, "We just stopped here to rest for the night." "Will you help us defeat an evil demon?" the man asked.  
"It depends." Mikoto said, "Tell me about the demon." "The demon looks like a giant snake!" the woman exclaimed, "Two feet wide, twenty feet in length. Well, that's our guess. It's been attacking the village once a week for almost a year now. Today is the day it attacks." "What time today?" Mikoto asked, "Does it always come at the same time?" "Yes." the man replied nodded, "It comes at noon."  
"I'll help." Mikoto said nodding, "It shouldn't take that long to destroy this demon. It sounds like a low, weak one. And seeing the village now, it doesn't seem to do much damage." "It doesn't do much physical damage." the woman said, "But it kills someone everyone once in a while. It always injures someone though. Every week"  
"I can help too!" I said. "I want you safe." Mikoto told me, "You won't be fighting today." "But I can fight!" I insisted, "You've seen me fight! You know what I can do!" "I do know you can fight, but I'd rather you were safe this time around." "You're just as bad as Inuyasha." I mumbled, but I didn't argue anymore.  
The old man led Mikoto away, leaving me with the woman. "Many of our young women have been curious about you, demoness." she told me. As if that was a cue, ten or eleven women around my age ran over to me, exclaiming upon my ears, my clothes, Taoa, and our bags. "The girls will show you around town." the woman explained, "Have a good time!"  
"Anywhere you want to go?" one girl asked me. "Do you have a bathhouse or hot springs here?" I asked. "A bathhouse." another girl replied, "Come on girls! Let's take a bath!" The girls dragged me off towards the bathhouse.

Two hours later, I was squeaky clean and helping put lunch out at the pavilions. The girls who had been with me that day were nice and we were all joking around. Suddenly the others stopped talking and laughing. They hurried away from the pavilions. One girl, her name was Mara, grabbed my wrist and we ran after the others.  
"The demon's coming!" she explained, "You can hide in my house with my parents and me." I glanced behind myself and there was the demon entering the town! I longed to attack the demon, but I followed Mara, obeying Mikoto.  
From a small window in Mara's house, I watched Mikoto take on the demon. It didn't look like he was having any problems attacking and defending. In fact, it looked like he was just having a good time. Less than five minutes into the fight I could see that Mikoto would get an easy win.  
"Do you know that demon?" Mara asked, looking out the window. "He's my future mate." I replied. She gave me a blank look. "He'll be my husband soon." I rephrased. "Oh!" Mara exclaimed, "I'm so happy for you! My mother said marriage is the best thing that ever happens to a girl." "It might be." I replied.  
My eyes returned to the window. It looked as if Mikoto had been hit with the snake demon's tail. He was getting up, recovering from the blow. I hoped he was okay. The snake attacked again. This time it would be a bite, not a hit. The attack was coming in silent too. Even though Mikoto's ears were good, he couldn't hear the incoming danger.  
That was the last straw. I wouldn't abide by Mikoto's orders anymore. "Mikoto!" I screamed, running out of the house, "SILVER CLAWED ROLLING STORM!" My attack hit on target and the demon's head was cut right off its body only second before it could get to Mikoto.  
I ran over to him. "I was so scared!" I whispered. "I believe I told you that a few days ago." Mikoto said, "Thank you for saving me." "Now we're equal." I replied, "Is it dead?" "I don't think any demon could live through something like that." he told me. I looked at the dead snake. Something caught my eye. First, the demon seemed to be healing. Second, there was a glint of crystal where I severed the neck.  
Walking over, I pulled out a shard of the Shikon Jewel. The snake stopped healing. "Now we have to go back." I said waving it in Mikoto's face. "No." he replied, "We're still going to continue towards my house. But when we visit your sister Kagome and the others again, we will give it to them." I pouted a bit.  
"I think it's time to continue on our way." Mikoto said taking the shard from me and sticking it in his pocket, "When we get to the castle would you like me to turn the shard into a necklace for you so you can't lose it?" "That sounds nice." I replied nodding.  
The old woman and man came over to us. "Thank you so much for defeating the demon!" the man told us, "What would you like as a reward." "No reward is nessasary." Mikoto told them. "Then from now on, whenever you come to this village, you may have free boarding at the inn." the woman said. "Thank you." I said bowing politely.

* * *

Clear Waters: Now let us return to watching Inuyasha make his own ramen. So far he has managed to turn the stove on, but he had his hand on the burner. My stove is gas. Yes, it hurt. Should I make more popcorn?  
  
Sango: Yeah.  
  
Clear Waters: Alright. I'll be right back with more.  
  
Inuyasha: {runs to sink and puts hand under cold water} Damn that hurts!  
  
Kagome: Return to cooking if you want your ramen Inuyasha!  
  
Inuyasha: {grumbles about annoying bitches} What do I do now? I got the stove on.  
  
Clear Waters: {returns with popcorn} Put the teapot on the stove.  
  
Inuyasha: You mean this thing? {picks up teapot and drops on bare foot.} OW! DAMN!  
  
Miroku: Language, Inuyasha.  
  
Inuyasha: {picks up teapot and puts on running burner}  
  
Clear Waters: Good job! Now you just have to wait for the water to boil!  
  
Kagome: Uh, that's if they're any left to boil that isn't on the floor.  
  
Sango: {eyes puddle on ground} You've got a big clean up ahead of you, Inuyasha.  
  
Clear Waters: Yes. I'm not cleaning it up. You made the mess. R&R everybody! We'll conclude Inuyasha's ramen expirience in the next chapter!  
  
Inuyasha: So what do I do now?  
  
Clear Waters: Wait.  
  
Inuyasha: No! I want to know what I do NOW! I don't want to wait for you to finish talking to the people reading this!  
  
Clear Waters: Inuyasha! You WAIT for the water to boil! You're so thick at times.  
  
Inuyasha: What the hell is that supposed to mean?!  



	12. Arriving at the Castle

The Third Family

* * *

**neko hanyou-ember dione- **Here's the update! 

**love-bracelet123- **It's the chapter you've been waiting for...

**Mystic Bynd- **{presses on button of new computer} Hey it still works! {puts fingers on key board. BUZZ! Owww. Okay. Yeah. Inuyasha! You're getting me a new computer!

**Wolf of Fire- **Clean up. I am NOT helping Inuyasha. Here's the update!

**KG the oven mit fanatic- **Now that I'm home and off that other computer your tent is on the moon right above Rin's head. It's floating. Maybe now you should move it. You don't want Rin to get hurt. How about the top left corner? That's above Sesshoumaru's head.

**ZeldaAlly- **No fighting in this chapter. Sorry Ally. :( It's sort of hard to look up to Shippo. He's so short!

**LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- **I like the attack name! Well Kyo's going to get into a lot of trouble in the castle. {Grins evilly} So a new attack might be good. Thanks!

**DarkPirate-510- **And the grand finally of Inuyasha's ramen expirience is at the end of this chapter!

**Lenipez sideshow**- I think all the stuff Inuyasha's doing is enough. I think sitting him would be mean. I don't like mushrooms so no, I don't like mushroom ramen. I like original, oriental, shrimp, and chicken. Those are the ones I've tried. Who know? I might like more.

**Cirrus- **Update!

**Dragon Man 180-** Who knows. Probably no more than the one she just got.

**MidniteStar7- **Mikoto and Kyo aren't going to visit anytime soon, but Kagome and the others might.

**ThunderingWolfDemonOfTheNight- **{innocent laughing.} Meet Mikoto's parents?

* * *

After two more days of uneventful traveling we finally arrived at Mikoto's castle. "Looks impressive." I commented gazing up at the huge walls surrounding the huge castle. It was a classic Japanese style castle. Dark and forboding. To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure how I could live there at all.  
"It is." Mikoto agreed. He helped me off Taoa and we walked to the huge doors in the wall. "Open up!" Mikoto called. A guard looked over the wall. "Who goes there?" he demanded. Mikoto looked up at him. "Is that you Master Mikoto?!" the guard exclaimed. "Of course it's me." he replied, "Now let me in. I haven't been home in a long time!" "You could say that." the guard mumbled. A second later the doors opened and we walked in.  
I gasped in surprise. Sure, there was a rode leading to the stables and front door. That didn't surprise me. What I didn't expect was that instead of dirt or grass, the courtyard was full of any type of flower you could think of, and trees. Throughout the flowers and trees were walking paths with benches every once in a while.  
"My mother was a bit of gardin fanatic." Mikoto explained dryly, "When she died father hired gardeners to keep it just as nice as she had, but it looks like he's gotten rid of a few of them. It's getting over run. "I think it looks fine." I replied. Mikoto laughed. "Now you can be the gardener of the family." he teased.  
"Sure." I replied, "Why not." We pulled our packs off of Taoa so she could detransform. "You can leave them here." Mikoto told me, putting his bags on the ground. I did the same. Taoa turned little again and I picked her up. We started walking towards the front door, but before we could get there, it was pushed open and a girl a few years younger than me bolted out, hugging Mikoto tightly.  
"You're back!" she exclaimed happily, "It's been so long! I missed you a whole lot!" I now got a good look at the girl. She had dirty blond hair ending two inches or so under her ears. The girl was my height. She was a full cat demon. I could smell it on her.  
"Who's that?" I asked. No matter how badly I wanted to feel jelous, I wouldn't let myself be. Mikoto would have a logical answer to this. "This is my cousin, Kallani." he replied, "Kallani, this is my future mate, Kyo." Cousin. Okay. There was the logical answer. "Nice to meet you." I said politely. "You too." Kallani said grinning.  
"Where can I find my father?" Mikoto asked Kallani, "Let me guess, in his study?" She looked down sadly. "I'm sorry." Kallani said softly, "He died. Almost a year ago now. But we couldn't find you to tell you." "You mean I'm the new Lord of the Northern Lands." Mikoto asked. I swear his eyes looked like they could pop out of his head. "Yeah." his cousin replied, "And I've been doing the job for you!"  
"Okay, okay." Mikoto said rolling his eyes, "Is there a good bedroom that Kyo could have?" "Don't you want her... you know, in your room?" Kallani asked. I blushed. "Not for the first night." he replied, "I'll let her settle in first." Mikoto was too good for me. "The room next to yours is still a guest room." she replied, "Kyo could stay there." Mikoto nodded. "That sounds good." he said nodding.  
"Well then let's show her!" Kallani exclaimed. She dragged both of us into the front hall of the castle. It was huge. Totally done in white marble and about two stories of open space above me. There was also a grand staircase done in white marble too. "Whoa." I commented. Mikoto laughed. "Yeah." he agreed, "It's breath taking at first, but you get used to it after awhile."  
We went up the staircase and into a great big hallway. The floor was carpeted in a great big squishy red rug. The castle looked like a Japanese one from the outside, but it could have been an English one from the inside. "Here's your room!" Kallani said pushing a door open. I stepped into my room.  
It was amazing. The floor was wooden, no carpet. But the walls were hung with tapistries of all sorts of scenes. The far wall was completely made out of windows and there was a futon right next to it. The room also held a writing desk and a closet. "Do you like it?" Mikoto asked. "It's perfect." I replied. "Good." Kallani said, "Well I've got work to do. Actually it's MIKOTO'S work, but oh well."

* * *

Clear Waters: now for the end of Inuyasha's ramen expirience!

Inuyasha: I already ate the ramen!

Clear Waters: Huh? How'd you make it?

Shippo: Oh Kagome felt bad for him and helped him finish it up.

Clear Waters: Darn it. Well, we'll just have to make him make some more next time, won't we? R&R everyone!


	13. Mikoto's Memories

The Third Family

* * *

**lovebracelet123 (Kallani)- **If you really were Kallani you'd have a whole lot more work to do than if you were yourself. Remember you have work and then you have to do Mikoto's too because he's off chasing his future mate. 

**Dragon Man 180- **Yes. That's EXACTLY what it means.

**LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- **Read!

**DarkPirate-510- **His death just hasn't... sunk in yet. 

**ZeldaAlly- **Don't worry about the ramen. (holds up cup-a-ramen) We're doing it all again. This time Kagome will not be present.

* * *

Mikoto and I watched Kallani run off down the hall. "So now you've got a big title." I commented, trying to break the silence. "Yeah." Mikoto agreed, "I should probably help Kallani out with the work. It is mine to begin with now. You can explore the castle and its grounds. There's all sorts of stuff around you might find interesting." I nodded. Mikoto walked off quickly, head down.  
I knew something was wrong, but I didn't press. Instead, I took his advise and began walking through the castle. All the hallways were covered in the same red carpet. I was brave and opened a few doors too. A few were bedrooms, others were offices of some sort, and two of them were libraries.  
The last door I opened was different from the rest. For one, the door didn't slide open. It was on hinges. The door was also a double door. It was made out of some sort of dark wood too. I pushed it open to see what looked like a mix of a library and an office. The walls were coved with bookshelve up to the ceiling on my left and right. Strait ahead was a desk with a chair. The chair was facing away from me, towards an open window. I could tell there was someone in the chair.  
I walked around the desk to see who was there. "Mikoto!" I exclaimed. He looked up at me. "Hello Kitten." Mikoto said. I have to admit he looked pretty upset. There were tear stains down his cheeks. I guess he was thinking about his dad.  
"Is anything wrong?" I asked. "I'm just reflecting on my father." Mikoto replied. He pulled me onto the chair so I was sitting on his knee. "My father used to sit me on his knee right here like you're sitting on mine." he told me, "And he'd tell me how my mother was as beautiful as the flowers outside the window."  
"You miss him, don't you?" I asked sympathetically. "Very much." Mikoto agreed, "I always thought that I'd be able to show you off to him. My father would have liked you. You remind me of my mother." "Really?" "Yes." "How so?" I questioned. "Your attitude towards everything." he explained, "You give everyone a chance, love your friends and family over everything else including yourself, and how you manage to keep a smiling face on even after all that's happened in your life. You're special, Kyo."  
I blushed. "I'm not that special." I insisted, "I'm just a plain old hanyou." "But you're my hanyou." Mikoto pointed out, smiling a bit. I brushed his tears away. "I hope that in a few years we'll have our own children so that I can put them on my knee and tell them how their mother is like the flowers outside the window." he told me. I giggled. 

"So we've got to get Kyo some pretty clothes." Kallani said during dinner, "I've never seen things like what she's wearing." I looked down to see that I was wearing a sweatshirt and sweat pants. "Kyo likes wearing clothes like those." Mikoto told his cousin, "But she does have some normal clothing too."  
"Good." Kallani replied, "The fitters will have an easier time if they have something to work from." "But I don't need anymore clothes." I said. "How many kimonos do you have?" she asked. I thought about it for a second. "Four." I finally answered. Kallani laughed. "You're to be the Lady of the Northern Lands and you think four kimonos are enough!" she exclaimed, "I have over fourty and I'm practically a nobody." "A nobody from a very rich family." Mikoto pointed out.  
"Yes." Kallani agreed, "I will bring you to the fitters tomorrow. And I'll show you around the castle. Unless Mikoto wants to do that." She glanced at her cousin. "No." he said, "You two should get to know each other a bit." "Okay." she said nodding.  
"I'll start my duties as Lord of the Northern Lands tomorrow so that you don't have to work." "It's about time you started." Kallani said rolling her eyes. "It's not my fault you couldn't find me to tell me that my father died." Mikoto pointed out. I could hear a bit of pain in his voice when he mentioned his father.

After dinner, when I returned to my room, my bags were waiting for me. So was Taoa, though she was sleeping on my futon. I thought about the events of the day. My first impression of Mikoto's castle. Kallani. The parts of the castle I had seen. Mikoto mourning his father's death. Nodding absentmindedly to myself, I decided I could live here without a problem. I changed into my pjs and opened the window. It was winter, but I enjoyed a breeze while I slept none the less.

* * *

Kagome: I'm glad Kyo's going to like it at her new home. 

Clear Waters: Kagome, don't you have a test to study for? (Holds up Kagome's planner)

Kagome: OH MY GOSH! I DO! (Runs out of room)

Clear Waters: Now we can get down to buisness. (hands Inuyasha a cup-a-ramen) make it yourself if you want it.

Inuyasha: Not again!

Clear Waters: Yes again!

Inuyasha: Not again!

Clear Waters: Yes again!

Inuyasha: Not again!

Clear Waters: Yes again!

Miroku: This is going to take a while.

Inuyasha: Not again!

Clear Waters: Yes again!

Inuyasha: Not again!

Shippo: Oh yeah.

Clear Waters: Yes again!

Inuyasha: Not again!

Clear Waters: Yes again!

Inuyasha: Not again!

Clear Waters: Yes again!

Sango: Well I don't think we'll be getting anywhere with the ramen for a few hours at least. You'll have to read the next chapter. R&R everyone.

Inuyasha: Not again!

Clear Waters: Yes again!

Inuyasha: Not again!

Clear Waters: Yes again!

Miroku: SHUT UP!

Inuyasha & Clear Waters: WHAT?!?!


	14. Servant's Chat

The Third Family

* * *

**Mystic Bynd- **Sorry I missed your review in the last chapter. I saw it right after I updated. You missed the deadline. The only reason the computer isn't hurt is because you don't want to pay for another one, you know it. And don't worry about not being able to sell it. Bring your video camera down to the bottom of the chapter and you can film it. We're doing it again except this time Kagome's studying for a test. 

**LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- **Yes. I like twists. I start school on Monday. :(

**ZeldaAlly- **Mikoto AND Shippo are cool! Lots of mistakes! Don't worry. And no Kagome! BWA HA HA!

**Dragon Man 180- **Yes. Staying away from Sesshoumaru would work, but it being Kyo, I don't think she'll be cowaring in a corner. Probably risking her life driving Sesshy nuts.

**lil'killer- **Bracelets. Good idea! You should team up with Inuyasha. That way when everyone's having cake you two can have ramen. I will use your expirience cooking ramen to make Inuyasha's even better. I'm evil. But I'm surprised you had so much trouble with ramen. I made it for the first time when I was down at the shore. That kitchen is worthless and I still didn't have any problems. How in the world did you manage to set a TOWEL on FIRE?!?! O.O; I will make a sequel to this. Don't worry. But you shouldn't think so far ahead. I'm expecting this story will be longer than the first. Thanks.

**KG the oven mit fanatic- **Maybe over Sesshy's head isn't the best place either... There isn't a good place on my background. Anywhere you go you're either going to fall on someone's head or trip them. Oh well. Maybe I should change my background. (Hands KG a pillow) Have a good nap! 

**ThunderingWolfDemonOfTheNight- **In my opinion, I think anyone would hate to come home and find their father dead and them having to take over the family job. And if Kyo is having a good time, aka exploring and getting in trouble, I don't think Mikoto will have much time to mourn his father. (munches on cookie) Thank you!

* * *

I woke up as sun streamed in from my open window and onto my face. Sighing, I opened my eyes and pulled myself off the futon. Taoa mewed in protest as I messed up her little nest she had made out of my blankets in the night. "Sorry, Taoa." I said, "But I've got to get up sometime!"  
I walked over to my bag and began to rummage around for something I could wear. I finally pulled out the kimono which was the least mud splattered of the three. Yes, there were four kimonos in my bag, but one of them was the special one mom gave me and I didn't want to wear it unless it was a special occasion.  
The door of my room slid open and two girls a little older than me walked in. "Good morning." I said a little unsurly. The girls bowed. "Good morning mistress." they said in unison. I looked the two over. Both were cat demons. I could smell that. But I wasn't expecting anything less.  
The first girl could have passed herself off as a human with her black hair and dark brown eyes. She was a little taller than me. I guessed 5' 5'. The second girl would never be able to pass herself of as a human. Her hair was bright orange with streaks of white. Her eyes were bright blue and she was probably around 5' 1".  
"We're here to serve you milady." the first said, "I am San." "And I am Jina." the second girl said. "Do you need any assistance? Perhaps getting into your clothes or doing your hair?" San asked. "No thank you." I replied holding up my kimono to see how bad the mud really was.  
"You can't wear that milady!" Jina exclaimed. "Why?" I asked, quite taken aback. I didn't think the kimono was that ugly, in fact, I liked it a lot.  
San bowed, shoving Jina down with her. "Jina is young, milady!" she said, "She doesn't mean you any disrespect. Please don't be mad at her." "I'm not mad." I said smiling, "But why shouldn't I wear my kimono, Jina?" "It's got mud on it." Jina said shyly, "I'm sorry, milady." "It's alright." I replied, "But I all my kimonos except my best one have mud on them. And I can't wear my good kimono."  
I held it up. San nodded and looked at it. "You're right." she said, "You can't wear that. That's a summer kimono. One meant for balls and meetings with other youkai lords. Could I see your first choice again? Perhaps I could do something about the mud." I handed her the muddy kimono. San began beating at it. Little clouds of dust came out of the fabric.  
A few minutes later, San handed the kimono back to me. It looked much better, but still a little dirty. "I heard you're getting new kimonos today so you don't have to worry about yours being dirty." Jina said. "Jina!" San exclaimed, "Where did you hear that?! It's not good to tell the lady gossip!"  
"It's true." I said, slipping into the kimono. San imediatly helped with the obi, "I'm going to get new ones today with Kallani." San nodded. "Lady Kallani is nice." she said, "And of course being 94 this year she is quite a handful. Very spirited and after all the boys." "94?" I replied, quite shocked. I had expected 14 or so.  
"Yes." San said as I pulled my over kimono on, "Lady Kallani is quite young. How old are you? 112 or so?" "Not even close!" I said laughing, "I'm 16."  
Jina gasped. San, who was much more well trained, only widened her eyes a little. "16!" Jina exclaimed, "You're nothing but a kitten yourself!" "Jina!" San said, "Be respectful!" She bowed to me again. "I am very sorry, milady." San said, "We weren't expecting that you would be that young." I shrugged. "Well to a demon I am still a kitten." I admitted, "But to a human, I am much old enough to marry."  
"And you're a hanyou so you could go by either set of rules." Jina said nodding. San glared at her, but said nothing. I pulled my brush out of my bag and began to brush my hair. "Let me do that, milady!" San said taking the brush. I kneeled on the floor and allowed her to do it. After San began brushing my hair, I couldn't get either one of the girls to talk to me again.

* * *

Inuyasha: That was a worthless chapter.

Clear Waters: I'd tell you off for insulting my chapter but today we have to do something.

Inuyasha: And what's that?

Clear Waters: (Shoves cup-a-ramen into Inuyasha's hands) You're making this all by yourself.

Inuyasha: Kagome will help me.

Clear Waters: No she won't. She's off studying for a big important test.

Inuyasha: Damn the tests. (gets teapot and turns on stove)

Clear Waters: This isn't so bad, is it?

Inuyasha: Shit.

Miroku: You should stop cursing, Inuyasha.

Inuyasha: Damn. Now what do I do?

Clear Waters: Open the lid of the cup half way.

Inuyasha: (Pulls. Nothing happens. Pulls harder. Ramen goes flying right out of cup and the lid comes totally off.) Crap.

Sango: Oh dear.

Inuyasha: (Picks ramen up off floor and put back in cup.)

Clear Waters: Don't worry about the lid. You'll just have to let the noodles steep longer. That's all.

Inuyasha: Damn.

Shippo: Miroku's right. I think you should stop cursing too. It's not very nice.

Inuyasha: Shut up!

Shippo: Uh Clear Waters?

Clear Waters: Yes?

Shippo: Is the teapot supposed to be drooping like that?

Clear Waters: Wha... OH MY GOD!!!! Inuyasha did you put water in the teapot?!?!?!

Inuyasha: Ooops.

Clear Waters: YOU MELTED MY TEAPOT!!!!!!!! (Sighs. Turns off stove. Using pot holders, takes melted teapot off stove and hands Inuyasha a new one) Now put some water in it!

Inuyasha: Okay. (puts water in teapot and puts back on stove.)

Clear Waters: Good.

Inuyasha: Now what?

Clear Waters: We wait for the water to boil. R&R everyone! Inuyasha's grand finally of ramen making next chapter! And I think I'll have to find another reason for Kagome to stay away. The test's tomorrow. :(


	15. The First Full Day of Castle Life

The Third Family

* * *

**LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- **I have to torture Inuyasha until he makes himself ramen! So what are you going to do? I didn't update soon. Sorry. :( I was too busy. 

**lil'killer- **Yeah, my teapot got melted... Oh well. I did a lot of little chapters like this in Families CAN Be Replaceable. No, it's not a filler. I've never done a filler in my life. It's just a pointless chapter. I'm good at pointless chapters.

**Cirrus- **Here's the update! Sorry it's so late.

**love-bracelet123- **That was confusing... What it is, is demons live a long long time so an age we'd consider old isn't considered old, but rather young to a demon. Wait till you get to 8th grade. (shudders)

**Dragon Man 180- **Same here.

**DarkPirate-510- **Ramen? Yummy! I had ramen for lunch!

**MidniteStar7- **Yes, Mikoto's dad died of natural causes. But that's all I'll say. I'm not really going to get into it.

**ThunderingWolfDemonOfTheNight-** (munches on cookie) Sorry I haven't updated in a while. (Burns homework) Not a good idea. Now I have to do it all over again. Oh well!

**ZeldaAlly-** Everyone's with Inuyasha on that one. No one likes tests including the teachers... Why they give them is beyond me.

**Mystic Bynd- **So YOU were the teapot I melted. I didn't know that teapots reviewed my stories! Okay. Stupid joke. (snickers) 

**Lenipez sideshow-** You just made it! I was about to post this and I saw your review! Lucky you! Kyo's a little unsure about her maids too. I wouldn't want them. Nope.

* * *

San and Jina led me into the dining room. Mikoto and Kallani were already there. "Good morning!" Kallani said cheerfully. I took a seat next to Mikoto. "Good morning." I replied. Mikoto gave me a kiss on the top of my head. A servant placed a bowl of hot rice in front of me.  
"We're going to have so much fun today, Kyo!" Kallani exclaimed, "First we're going to the tailors to get you some more clothes. Say, what's your favorite color?" "Purple." I replied. "Then you can have lots of purple kimonos." she continued, "My favorite color's orange." I noted Kallani was wearing an orange kimono. "After the tailor's I'll give you a real tour of the castle. I know you looked around yesterday, but today I'll tell you exactly it was you saw. I've had a picnic lunch made too. We can have it out in the gardens. Then how does a bath sound? We've got heated bathes in the castle so you don't have to have one outside."  
"The whole day sounds nice." I commented. "It'll be so much fun!" Kallani said happily. "What will you be doing?" I asked Mikoto. "I'll be sorting through my father's files and aranging meetings with other important demons." he replied, "Then I will see what other jobs I have to do. You'll be having a much better time than me today."  
"And I've been doing all your work for a year so no complaining to me. I know what it's like and it's probably worse for me because I'm a young girl." "Well, I don't want to hear any of your complaining either." Mikoto replied, "I said I was sorry for not being able to immediatly take over father's place as a youkai lord." 

After breakfast, Kallani led me down hall after hall, until we reached a large sliding door. Kallani opened it and we walked in. Inside were a bunch of old nekoyoukai ladies, weaving, spinning, carding, and sewing. They all stopped their work to bow to Kallani and I guess me too.  
"This is Lord Mikoto's Lady." Kallani said gesturing to me, "Lady Kyo. She needs some new clothes." One of the women who were sewing got up and walked over to us. The rest returned to their work. "Hello Maura." Kallani said addressing the woman. The woman who's name was Maura, bowed again.  
"Lady Kyo must pick fabric for her new outfits." she said, "Please follow me." We followed Maura to a large cupboard in the back of the room. She opened the doors to reveal what was probably 30 different fabrics. "Choose your favorites." Kallani requested. I looked the cloth over, finally picking a pink fabric embroidered with little gold cranes and a plain lavender cloth.  
"These are my favorites." I said pointing to them. "Oh no!" Kallani exclaimed, "You must pick more than two! At least five!" "Five?" I repeated. She nodded. I returned to the cupboard and picked out a blue fabric with pink and purple flowers, a sky blue fabric, and a mint green fabric.  
"That's better." Kallani said smiling as I pointed out the other three fabrics, "We don't want you running out of pretty things to wear." A few women came up and pulled the fabrics I had picked out of the cupboard.  
"Next we get your measurements." Kallani explained. Maura produced a measuring tape from her kimono. It snaked all over my body, while a younger woman recorded what it found out. Finally that was done and Kallani took me out of the room.  
"Now I can show you around the castle!" she said happily. She showed me where the women's baths were. Also, she showed me some of the many libraries housed in the castle. I learned there was a library just for scrolls, one just for books, a lady's library, which was mine, a lord's library, which was Mikoto's, and a library that just had the histories of the lords and ladies of the Neko Taiyoukai family.  
Kallani also showed me her office briefly. In my opinion it was a mess. I made a mental note to help her clean it up. Kallani stopped in one office. I didn't really like it. It wasn't a messy lived in look like Kallani's or the studious look of Mikoto's father's. This one was dark and cold.  
"This was Mikoto's grandfather's office." Kallani explained in awe, "It was here that the inuyoukai and nekoyoukai signed their treaty." "We have a treaty with the inuyoukai?" I asked. "Yes." she replied, "If we didn't Lord Sesshoumaru-sama would be claiming our land for himself as we speak."  
I shuddered involuntarily at the name. "Are you alright?" Kallani asked. "Fine." I replied, "It's just I've met up with Sesshoumaru. It's not a pleasant memory." "What happened?" she asked, sounding interested. "He killed me." I answered. Kallani's eyes widened.  
"How many lives do you have left?" she questioned. "Eight." I said, "I've only lost one." "So you had 9 to begin with?" She asked. "Of course." I retorted, "Why wouldn't I?" "It's not common for hanyous to have 9 lives like full blooded youkai." Kallani explained, "Some are lucky to get all 9, but it's more common for them to get anywhere between 2 to 5 lives."  
I didn't know how to reply. I guess Kallani sensed my distress. "Let's go into the gardens." she said dragging me out of the room, "Then we can have lunch!" She led me into a rose garden. "This was Mikoto's mother's favorite garden." Kallani explained, "I'm not very good at gardening, but I try to keep this one nice looking in her memory. She may have been my aunt, but she was more like a mother to me."  
"So what's your favorite flower?" Kallani asked after a moment of relaxed silence. "Water lilies." I replied. "Then we'll eat at the pond." she replied. The girl led me to the edge of a small lake, covered in water lilies. There was a picnic laid out, waiting for us. Rice, chicken, duck, tea, bread and butter. It looked all so good.  
We sat down and began to eat, talking about different things. Kallani filled me in on the latest fashions. Of course I'd need to know about that. My knowlage of fuedal era clothing was very slim. She told me about different clothes, different embroidery threads, veils, hair styles, and obis.  
Then I told her about my time and where I had come from. "What are the fashions like there?" Kallani asked. So Kallani was a trend follower. "Well most shirts should be tight to be in fashion." I told her, "Strapless are the best, though I prefer straps. Basically you want to show as much skin as possible without being disgusting."  
Kallani nodded. "That's amazing!" she said, "If I wore anyless than I am now, I'd be considered disgusting, but it seems in your time disgusting is different." "Yes." I agreed. "Ready for a bath?" Kallani asked, "The servants will clean everything up." "Sure." I replied, following her to the baths.

A few minutes later we were soaking in a big bath. "We've got a lot of different flavored soaps and shampoos." Kallani told me, "Do you have prefered smell?" "Lavender." I replied. She handed me a bottle of shampoo and a purple bar of soap. "There you go." she said.  
"Do I have any jobs as Mikoto's Lady?" I asked. "Sure." Kallani replied, grabbing her own soap and shampoo, "You've got to give him a son." I blushed. "But more in general, you're in charge of any visitors we might get at the castle. You also plan any social events you want. You're also in charge of the servants. And because of Mikoto's mother, you've got a lot of gardening to do. We can get you a few gardeners to lighten your work there though."  
"Those are all my jobs?" I asked amazed, "I don't know if I'll ever have a free moment." "If you think that load's bad you should check out Mikoto's list." Kallani said, "It's huge! At least three times larger."

After dinner Mikoto took a walk with me. "I believe we have something to do tonight." he told me. I of course knew what he meant. I blushed. I wasn't sure if I was ready, but I had agreed to this years before. It would be unfair to Mikoto if I said no. "Yes." I agreed, "I promised, didn't I?"  
Mikoto grinned and led me towards his room. "We'll move your stuff into my room tomorrow kitten." he told me.

* * *

Clear Waters: Ramen time! Let's see Inuyasha finish making his ramen! 

Kagome: I finished it again for him.

Clear Waters: Where'd you come from?! I thought you were studying for a test!

Kagome: I had that test a while ago.

Clear Waters: Darn. Foiled again. R&R everyone!


	16. Visitors

The Third Family

* * *

**Heart of Friendship- **No. This isn't a filler chapter. Neither was the chapter before. I don't do filler chapters as I've said before. Just chapters in which random things happen. Dedicated to me?! o.o Really? Thanks!!!! Wow! Cool! 

**Dragon Man 180- **I don't know. I kind of forgot about Taoa so sure, she could be sleeping all day. Or she could have been exploring. You decide.

**ZeldaAlly- **Okay. Interesting. To tell you the truth, my favorite color isn't even purple. It's red. I just thought that because Kyo likes the color of her eyes so much that purple could be her favorite color.

**Cirrus- **Yes, PG, or moving up to PG-13 for fighting. I already said before NO LEMONS! Yucky! (Throws lemon out window)

**LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- **I agree with you. Eww is right, but I had to put it in there. -.-; But I won't mention it again so you don't have to worry. You don't have to worry about more yuckies in this chapter (Thows another lemon out window)

**lil'killer- **(Closes door to her room so lil'killer can't see the color of the walls) Alright! I see you don't like pink!

**love-bracelet123- **I'm not sure about puting Kyo in the ends. I've thought about it before. I think I'll keep the ending conversations just for the characters from the show and book.

**Lenipez sideshow- **I love Fruits Baskets!!! I just read the fourth book and my friends can't get me to stop talking about it! Did you read it? I think Aaya looks like Sesshoumaru. Yes, I named Kyo after Kyo.

**ThunderingDemonOfTheNight- **Yeah, Kagome's being annoying. I've given up trying to get Inuyasha to make his own ramen. Maybe in a chapter some time.

**Mystic Bynd- **Teapot, yes. ;

**DarkPirate-510- **I liked that chapter too!

**Lucied's sis- **Thanks!

* * *

The next morning I awoke to people streaming in and out of our bedroom. They were carrying things in and then rearranging them. I guessed it was my stuff. I spied Taoa at the end of the bed. Mikoto was already gone. Either he had gotten up early to do his work, or I had slept in very late.  
San and Jina walked into the room. Each held a high stack of cloth. The other people who had been bringing things in filed out of the room silently. "We've got your new kimonos!" Jina said happily. San scowled at her and they both bowed. "Good morning milady." they said together. "Which kimono and over kimono would you like to wear today?" San asked me.  
Over the next few minutes they showed me my new outfits. Most of them were made out of the materials I had chosen the day before, but there were also a few plain colored kimonos that any girl would like. There were some fancy ones for special occations too.  
In the end I chose a plain white kimono with a pale yellow over kimono. San brushed and braided my hair after I got into them. "Now that you're the true lady of the house you must wear make up." San told me, pulling out various bottles of cosmetics. I looked at them. There was blush, white face powder, lipstick, eye liner, eyeshadow, and some other things.  
"I won't be wearing it." I said shaking my head. "Why not?" Jina asked, "I've always wanted to wear make up, but only ladies are alowed to!" "Make up's just not for me." I replied shrugging. San sighed. "Very well, milady." she said, "But you'll have to wear it sometime." She returned to working on my hair.  
"Where's Mikoto?" I finally asked. "He got up to work early." Jina said. "How'd you know that?" San asked frowning, "And no gossiping in front of Lady Kyo." "I saw him enter his office at six this morning." the younger demon replied ignoring San, "There were visitors even earlier. They came around four in the morning. I'm guessing that's why your mate got up early."  
I nodded and walked out of the room towards Mikoto's office. "Where are you going, milady?" San asked hurrying after me, "The dining room's the other way! You'll be late for breakfast if you don't go now!"  
I stopped and turned towards her. "I'm lady of this castle now." I said, "I can do anything I want. This includes being late for breakfast. Tell whoever it may concern that I'll be there after I see Mikoto." San sighed and I continued walking down the hall.  
A few minutes later I arrived at the door to the office. I could hear voices from inside. So Jina had been right about why Mikoto had gotten up early. My nose identified the visitor as a dog demon, but that's all. I knocked on the door. There was a pause. "Come in." Mikoto finally called.  
I slid the door open and walked in. Then stopped. I knew the visiting dog demon. He turned to me, then back to Mikoto. "So it was your mate I killed and not my bastard brother's." Sesshoumaru said to him, "I suppose I owe you an appoligy." "I understand it was a mistake." Mikoto said. Sesshoumaru nodded.  
"Well let's introduce you two more formally." Mikoto said, "We'll put past mistakes behind us. Lord Sesshoumaru, meet my new mate Kyo." Mikoto said gesturing to me, "Kyo, meet Lord Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western lands." I bowed politely. Sesshoumaru nodded towards me. "Lady Kyo." he said.  
"Kyo." my mate said, "Lord Sesshoumaru has a young charge by the name of Rin. She is currently in your Lady's Library. Kallani showed you where that is, right?" "Yes." I replied. "Well then please bring Rin to the dining room for breakfast." he instructed, "I'm guessing you haven't had eaten yet." "I haven't." I admitted, "I'll bring Rin with me."  
"Thank you." Mikoto said smiling, "She was sleeping when she came here. If you need to, wake her up and get her ready? Alright?" "Yes." I said, "Will you be joining us at breakfast?" "Maybe later." he replied. Nodding, I closed the door behind me and walked toward the library where the sleeping kid was."  
Minutes later, I slid the door open to my library. There was a little girl sitting on one of the couches, looking through a book. She looked up. I reconized her. This was the girl who had watched me die.  
"Good morning!" Rin said cheerfully, "Are you Lady Kyo?" "I am." I replied closing the door behind me. Rin looked me over frowning. "Aren't you the one Lord Sesshoumaru killed while fighting Lord Inuyasha?" she asked. "Yes." I replied, "I'm a cat demon. I've got more than one life." Rin smiled. "That's useful." she said, "You know, Rin was dead once too! Lord Sesshoumaru used his sword and brought me back to life!"  
"That's very interesting." I said and it was. A sword that could bring people back to life. Who would think of that? "What are you reading?" I asked. "Rin can't read." the girl replied, "But Rin's looking at the pictures!" She offered me the book. I took it. She was reading a book by the name of _Classic Demon Legends_.  
"Could Lady Kyo read to Rin?" Rin asked, "The pictures look so nice! The story must be even better!" "I'll read it to you later." I replied, putting the book down, "Lord Mikoto and Lord Sesshoumaru asked me to bring you to breakfast with me." "Yay!" Rin said jumping off the couch, "Rin's hungry!" She ran towards the door. "What's for breakfast?" she asked. I laughed. "Let's find out." I said.

* * *

Clear Waters: Rin's so cute!!!

Inuyasha: Who cares about the brat. Is Sesshoumaru joining this after story chat?

Clear Waters: Don't worry. He's not.

Inuyasha: That's good.

Sango: (Is looking at book) Who's this 'King Arther'?

Kagome: He was a very famous king in Britian.

Inuyasha: Where the hell's Britian?

Clear Waters: Not in Japan.

Inuyasha: Well that's obvious!

Kagome: It's across the ocean to the west.

Inuyasha: That's more like it.

Miroku: Could there be Jewel Shards in Britian?

Kagome: God, I hope not. It's so far away.

Miroku: Worse yet, could some of the shards landed in the ocean?

Inuyasha: Damn! Miroku! You're making me nervous.

Sango: You're always nervous.

Inuyasha: No I ain't!

Kagome: You are. You never sleep because you're afraid Sesshoumaru or Naraku or someone's going to attack.

Inuyasha: You're lying!

Shippo: Then when was the last time you fell asleep?

Inuyasha: When Clear Waters was writing those bloopers for Well, Whoops!.

Miroku: In the feudal era.

Inuyasha: Ummm......

Kagome: That's what I thought.

Clear Waters: R&R everyone!


	17. In the Garden

The Third Family

* * *

**Dragon Man 180- **Jaken? Read on! Kyo's not that lucky. 

**Wolf of Fire- **Disney world?! Lucky! I've never been there. But it stinks that you're sick. :(

**LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- **I will check out gaia IF you give me a website. I can't do much without it. I haven't updated in a while because I've been in the mountains hiking. (dies) I was not fun unless you count the camping we did. -.-;

**Lenipez sideshow- **Haru-kun's (you did get it wrong. It's Haru, not Haa) cool, but my favorite character's a tie between Master cross dressing rabbit, Momiji and the semi-perverted snake, Ayaa. Ayaa looks like Sesshy!!!!

**animecraze11- **Thanks! Sorry I didn't update soon.

**ZeldaAlly- **Wow! It's a history of favorite colors!

**ThunderingWolfDemonOfTheNight- **Well what else is he going to do Sesshy's smart. He doesn't want to annoy Mikoto. We can have a homework bonfire at the end of June! Then we won't get in trouble!

**Cirrus- **Sorry! I haven't updated in a while. :( I've been on a trip into the mountains. -.-;

**Mystic Bynd- **She'll have her chance to be cold to our favorite taiyoukai!

**KG the oven mit fanatic- **Don't drip the dip on Sesshy! You don't want him getting all irritated!

**lil'killer- **(Moves computer into room) Now you can't destroy my room!! To tell you the truth it was going to be purple but then I decided to keep it pink. (It was pink when I moved in)

**Sorona- **Mara? Cool! You're in my story!! (catches cookies)

**DarkPirate-510- **Yes, but fortuneatly it doesn't happen that often. Yes! Trickster's Queen!!! I went over to Borders the day it came out, but they didn't have it. :(

* * *

I walked Rin to the dining hall. She talked about all the adventures that she and Lord Sesshoumaru had been in together. These included the fights with Inuyasha and the rest of the group. The kid didn't get it that I had been there for those too, but I smiled and listened politely anyway.  
As soon as I slid the door open to the dining room, a little green toad came running up to us. "Rin!" it exclaimed, "Where were you! If Lord Sesshoumaru-sama learns that I lost you I'm sure my life will be shorted by at least a decade!" "Jaken-sama you worry too much!" Rin said sitting down at the table, "Come eat with Lady Kyo and Rin!"  
This Jaken toad guy eyed me. "And who is this?" he asked scowling at me. "That's Lord Mikoto's mate." Kallani answered walking in. The toad's eyes bugged out and he dropped a bow. "I'm very sorry my lady!" he said, "I didn't know you were the lord's mate!" Jaken looked up at me, trembling. I thought he looked sort of pathetic.  
"He's waiting for you to kick him." Rin told me. "Should I?" I asked. The girl nodded. I didn't really kick him. I just sort of prodded him a bit with my foot and he fell over. Rin giggled. "You're being nice to him." she said, "Sesshoumaru-sama usually kicks him so hard he goes flying!"  
I sat down next to the girl. Kallani sat down on my other side. "Who's that?" Rin asked me, pointing to Kallani. "That's Kallani." I replied, "She's Mikoto's cousin." "I'm Rin." the kid said smiling at Kallani. "Nice to meet you, Rin." she replied. Jaken finally recovered from my dainty kick and stood up. "Join us." I invited. Jaken sat down next to Rin, watching us suspicously.  
Maids came in with food. "Rice!" Rin exclaimed happily when one of them put a bowl in front of her, "Rin only gets rice when Sesshoumaru-sama stops in a village. And he almost never does that!" "So then Rice is a treat for you." Kallani said, "At this palace we get it ever single day! It gets boring after a while." "Rin'll never get bored of rice." she declared. Kallani and I giggled. 

We were almost finished with the second, and last course of breakfast, toast, when Mikoto and Lord Sesshoumaru walked in. Rin jumped up and ran over to her protector happily. "Go back to your seat Rin." the taiyoukai said calmly. "Okay!" she replied running back and sitting next to me.  
"What's for breakfast?" Mikoto asked sitting across from me. Sesshoumaru sat across from Rin. "Rice, toast, and water." Kallani replied. "I trust you did not let Rin have too much to eat." Sesshoumaru said eyeing me. "She's had one bowl of rice and two pieces of toast." I replied. "That is enough Rin." he said turning to his charge, "Do not eat anymore." "Alright!" Rin said grinning, "Will you show me the castle Lady Kyo?"  
Though I had not finished my breakfast yet, I didn't dare say no with Sesshoumaru in the room. "Okay." I replied, "But maybe Kallani should come too. I don't know my way around the castle that well yet. I just got here a few days ago." "Rin would like that a whole lot!" I noticed that Kallani hadn't finished her breakfast either but she also agreed to go. Rin jumped up. "Let's go!!" she said happily, "Rin wants to see everything!" Kallani and I got up and led the girl out of the room.  
"So what do you really want to see?" Kallani asked as soon as the doo was closed. "Rin wants to see the gardens!" she said. "Really?" I asked, "It's the middle of winter. None of the flowers will be out and it will be cold." "Rin likes the outdoors no matter if it's cold or there's no flowers.  
"Well then before we got out we'll get you something so that you can stay warm." I said walking towards the library where I had found Rin the first time. "What are you going for?" Kallani asked. "There's a pretty blue blanket in my library." I replied, "It's a little small so it'll be perfect for Rin." "Rin saw that blanket!" she said happily, "Rin likes it. It's pretty!" I nodded. "Then let's get it for you.

Ten minutes later Kallani, I, and a bundled up Rin walked out of the castle and into the garden. "Where's the nearest village?" Rin asked. "It's about a two or three days journey." Kallani replied, "Why do you ask?" "Why's the castle so far away?" the girl asked, "Don't you rule the people?" "No." Kallani said, "That's a human village. Mikoto rules over the demons, not the humans. "So is there a demon village around?" "Demons live where ever they like." I told the girl, "They don't stay in villages."  
Rin took off through the gardens, while Kallani and I chased after her. She seemed to be having a great time even if she was completely covered in the blue blanket. The kid stopped running when she got the the waterlily pond. She just stopped and stared at it. "You like waterlilies?" Kallani asked, walking up behind her. "Rin wants to go swimming!" she said happily, pushing the blanket off.  
"No!" Kallani and I said at the same time. Rin looked at us with her great big eyes. We could see that she was upset. "Why not?" she asked, "Rin really really wants to swim!" "You'll get sick if you do." I said putting the blanket back over her, "We don't want you getting sick. Then Lord Sesshoumaru wouldn't be happy." "And this pond isn't for swimming in." Kallani added, "It's for the waterlilies to live in."  
"So if Rin swam here the water lilies would get hurt?" Rin asked. I nodded. "Then Rin won't swim." she said, "Rin doesn't want to hurt anything!" "Why don't we go inside and play games." Kallani suggested, "Even if you don't swim, you can still catch a cold if you stay out here too long." "What kinds of games?" Rin asked, sounding interested. "Hand games." I replied, "Games with a board, dice, and playing pieces."  
"What's a dice?" Rin questioned, "Rin's never heard of playing gieces either." "And neither have I." Kallani said nodding, "I know that means we don't have them in the castle. So Kyo's going to have to make some of these 'dice' and playing pieces'." "Okay." I said picking up a thick stick from the ground, "I think I can manage.

* * *

Inuyasha: Where the hell have you been?!?! It's been forever since you've updated! 

Clear Waters: I know and I'm sorry.

Inuyasha: You'd better be.

Shippo: Where were you?

Clear Waters: Well last week I was hiking in the mountains, and the past few days I've been doing my homework.

Sango: What's homework?

Kagome: Nasty stuff made to give people my age breakdowns.

Miroku: Interesting. Isn't a breakdown a bad thing?

Kagome: Yes.

Miroku: Than why do they give you and Clear Waters this 'homework' that in turn gives you breakdowns.

Clear Waters: The people who give us the homework don't think about what sort of long term damage it'll give us.

Sango: That's not good.

Clear Waters: No. It isn't.

Kagome: How in the world are you going to have Kyo make a dice? And a board and such?

Clear Waters: Easy.

Shippo: I've played board games before! But how are you going to make the pieces and stuff.

Clear Waters: You'll have to wait until the next chapter! R&R everyone and I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner!

Inuyasha: You'd better.

Kagome: Oh come on Inuyasha! You know what homework is and what a pain it gets!

Inuyasha: Yeah, so?

Kagome: You're hopless.


	18. A Cold Greeting

The Third Family

* * *

**Dragon Man 180- **Jaken will notice that Kyo is a hanyou in this chapter. And yes, let the Jaken bashing begin. 

**Lightning/Wolf Demon- **Pyromaniacs around bonfires are not good things. (puts out fire) Sorry! I don't want to burn down the house. Though I have to admit that I'm a bit of a pyro too... Why don't we start a fire in the fireplace this time?

**LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- **You weren't nagging. Don't worry.

**ZeldaAlly- **Your front porch rebuilt? Cool! Once we had the floors in our front foyer redone and that was where our stairs are so we had to camp out in the family room! It was fun! That means LIVE is EVIL spelled backwards. Hmmm.

**love-bracelet123- **Yes. Homemade dice! Yay!

**Mystic Bynd- **But remember, Rin hasn't really been that lucky in life. The town orphan. Killed by wolves. Well, alright she has it lucky traveling with Sesshy but when was the last time he used a dice?

**lil'killer- **Kyo had to be nice to Jaken for political reasons. The same reasons why she didn't go crazy at Sesshoumaru for killing her. It would make Mikoto look bad and she knows this. Kyo is a smart cookie. My room was going to be purple, but then I decided to have it pink. Red is my favorite color.

**MidniteStar7- **Thank you! Rin steals the show every time! She is the cutest little kid ever! Cuter than Shippo even!

**Wolf of Fire- **Here's the update!

**Lenipez Sideshow- **I've never seen McGaiver. Everyone at school is talking about him though...

**DarkPirate-510- **I don't want to buy it until it comes out in paperback. I end up destroying all my hard cover books. -.-; You should see my HP books. -.-;;;;;;;;;;

**KG the oven mit fanatic- **Ewww. I hate tofu. But I have seen the tofu turkeys. They look funny! Everyone loves Rin. (Watches as KG dances on keyboard) Hey, how am I writing this if you're on the keyboard?? O.o;

**Foxstar2k2- **You're so nice. Thanks!

**Heart of Friendship- **Well now that I'm writing this you have updated. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. -.-

**Lucied's sis- **I HATED the SATs. Yucky. Yucky. Yucky!!

* * *

"We'll need a widdling knife." I told Kallani, "Do you have any?" She thought for a moment and then smiled. "There should be a few in the hunting shed. I'll get one. You guys go back to the library." "Alright." I said. Rin and I walked into the castle and I took off the blanket she had been using as a coat. It was muddy because Rin had insisted on sitting down a few times.  
"I guess we'll have to have another blanket brought up to the library." I said, "This one needs to be washed." But I had no clue what to do with dirty laundry so I hauled it off to the library with us. "So are you going to make all the stuff Rin, Kyo-san, and Kallani-san needs?" Rin asked. "Yes." I replied fishing out a large piece of paper from a cabinet in the library. That was followed by a bottle of ink and a brush.  
Rin watched as I divided the paper into a hundred little square, then drew ladders and snakes. Finally I numbered each space. "What's that?" The girl asked. "That's going to be the playing board." I replied, "I'll show you how to used it when we get the dice and playing pieces." Rin nodded.  
A few minutes later Kallani walked in, and handed me a little knife. "There you go." she said, "Now let's see this 'dice' thing of your's." I picked up the stick and cut it into a small piece. Then I peeled off the bark and cut it again so that I had a cube. Now the next thing I needed to do was put the dots on the cube. The knife would be hard to use for that. I put it down and finished the holes with my claws.  
"A dice." I said handing it to Rin." "What does it do?" she asked looking at it. I took it back from her and showed both of them how to use it. "And the amount of dots on the side that is facing up is the amount of places you go on the board." I explained. Kallani nodded. "That makes sense." she said, "But how do we know where we are on the board?"  
"That's where the playing pieces come in." I said, "Do you have anything that is smaller than the squares I made? Much smaller?" Rin pulled out a chip of jade about a centimeter long. "Will this do for Rin?" she asked holding it up. "Nicely." I replied, "What about you, Kallani?" Kallani picked up a tiny figurine that had been on a table. I nodded. Finally, for me, I cut off another piece of the stick.  
"We've all got our markers now." I said happily, "Now to teach you the full game. It's called Snakes and Ladders..." In a few minutes I had completely explained the simple game to them and we all began to play. Rin went first, followed by Kallani, and then me.  
The game was inturupted when a young maid came into the room. "Lady Kyo." she said bowing, "Lord Mikoto wishes your presence in his study. There is someone he wants you to meet." "Can you play for me, Rin?" I asked standing up, "I'm sure I'll be back in a few minutes." "Of course Kyo-san!" she said giggling as Kallani tickled her.  
I followed the maid out of my library and to Mikoto's office. The door was closed so the maid knocked before opening. She bowed. "Lady Kyo is here." the maid said.Mikoto motioned for me to come in. He was sitting behind his desk. In front of him was an old woman, dressed in a traveling cloak.  
She had silver hair, but not like Inuyasha's. It was silver from age. Her face was wrinkled and her hands were gnarled, but she stood tall and pround anyway. "I want you to meet Kurozena." Mikoto said gesturing at the woman, "She's the housekeeper around here and she has been for, how long?" "Seven hundred and fifty two years." the woman replied, "And I am very pround of it." She gave me a smile. It wasn't exactly a friendly one, but it was polite."  
"Yes." Mikoto agreed, "Well she's been off traveling and now she's back. I've got stuff to do. I'll let you two talk and get to know each other. Okay?" "Alright." I said. He left. Kurozena's look went from one of politenss to scorn."  
"Another hanyou." she said, "I want to tell you something girl. I've spent my whole life here. Your not the first hanyou to be taken in as a mate. This family has a soft spot for them. But it doesn't mean I do. I stay here and I protect this family in a sense. I don't like it when a hanyou comes into it, but each one has given the Lord a full breed demon son, so I can't complain."  
I had no clue how to reply to this. "Tounge tied, are you?" Kurozena asked, "For Mikoto's sake I will treat you with respect just as I treated his mother with respect for his father's sake. But you will also treat me with respect, do you hear? Even if I am a housekeeper while you're the lady of the castle, I was born with a higher ranking than you just because I am full bred and I will always be better than you. Do you understand this?"  
Once again, I had no clue how to reply to this. I nodded. "Good." She continued, "So you do not shame the family I will show you how to be an ideal Lady. It's just too bad I can't show you how to make you a pure bred." With that, Kurozena left the room. I shivered. That had to be the creepiest conversation I had ever had. 

I returned to the library to see Rin running around happily why Kallani hopelessly tried to calm her down. "I'm back Rin!" I said closing the door. "Kyo-san!" the girl exclaimed running over to me. "Rin's bored." she said, "Rin and Kallani-san have played your game three times! I want something else to do now!" "I can't think of anything." Kallani admitted, "We drew pictures, but that didn't last that long." "Rin and Kallani-san ran out of paper." Rin explained.  
I laughed and sat down on the couch. Someone had gotten rid of the blue blanket and replaced it with a light green one. "Why don't I read you those stories you were looking at the pictures for?" I suggested. "Yeah!" Rin exclaimed jumping onto my lap with the book. I covered her up with the new blanket and began to read...

Around an hour later I noticed that Rin had fallen asleep under the blanket and on my lap. I smiled and closed the book quietly. "You have a wonderful reading voice." Kallani commented, "I've read that book hundreds of times, but you seemed to make the story brand new!" "Thanks." I said smiling, "What do you think I should do? I don't want to wake Rin up, but I've got to get up. It has to be time for dinner by now."  
"It is." she replied, "Why don't you have Taoa watch Rin? I'm sure you can get her off of you without waking her up." Taoa had been sitting in the library all day. I was surprised that Rin hadn't noticed her. Then again she was quite small. I tried and indeed I did get Rin off me without waking her. Taoa walked over and jumped onto the couch. She curled up next to Rin. I smiled at the scene. Was this what it was like to be a mother?

* * *

Kagome: How cute! I loved the end! 

Inuyasha: I don't like Kurozena. She's messed up.

Miroku: I was under the idea that most demons didn't like hanyous.

Inuyasha: It's true.

Sango: Then how is Kurozena messed up?

Inuyasha: I don't know. She just is.

Shippo: I wish I could have heard some of the stories Kyo read Rin.

Inuyasha: That's right! When are we getting back into the story?

Clear Waters: I don't know.

Inuyasha: You don't know??

Clear Waters: When I feel like bringing you back.

Inuyasha: Damnit!

Sango: I hope that's soon.

Clear Waters: It might be. It depends on where I bring the story. I've got a lot of ideas and I can't use them all. :( R&R everyone!


	19. Departure

The Third Family

* * *

**DarkPirate-510- **Yes, it was very interesting. Wait a second. Who's this Kyoto? Whoops. No, have you ever tried explaining monopoly to a little kid? It's hard. And drawing the board would be hard too. Snakes and Ladders is much easier. 

**Cirrus- **Um... I don't think the other reviewers understand who Saramaru is... But it's funny!

**ZeldayAlly**- I wrote Kurozena into the story just to irritate Kyo. And the others will be in the story, just not soon. Of course I'm always having my house rebuilt because of Kagome and Inuyasha, but that's just in one room and it doesn't really effect me that much.

**Dragon Man 180- **Should Naraku really be on that list? I mean he's a hanyou too, he's just has major issues. -.-;;; Major.

**Lenipez sideshow- **Plot? Families CAN Be Replaceable didn't really have a plot until like the last 3 chapters. ; This one will probably be the same, but the plot might be a little larger than before. Who knows?

**love-bracelet123- **I like that idea! But I am currently starting something new in this chapter so not now. Maybe at the end.

**LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- **I think that everyone who watches Inuyasha and isn't allergic to cats wants one. I want one to go flying on!

**Heart of Friendship- **As I've said before, Kurozena has a place in this story... and it won't be as the bad guy. But right now she's just the irritating house keeper who has something against Kyo.

**Mystic Bynd- **Agreed. Strange stuff happening keeps it interesting.

**KG the over mit fanatic- **The reason Kurozena talked so rudely to Kyo was, one, Mikoto was not in the room, and two, because she's been working for the family so long she gets treated much better than the other servants. Now I have demons on my keyboard too?? O.o; (gets a new keyboard)

**neko hanyou-ember dione- **Yes! I'm glad you have returned! I don't like uniforms. My school just got them this year. -.-; yucky. Must I say more?

**lil'killer- **Yeah. She's a bit like Sesshy. I will defend my pink room!

* * *

The next morning before breakfast, I walked back to the library. Rin was still sleeping, cuddled up in her blanket with Taoa. I smiled. The scene was so cute. Taoa opened one eye and mewed at me. I motioned for quiet and walked towards the sleeping girl. She looked so innocent. Wondering why in the world Sesshoumaru wanted with such a human girl, I sat down on the couch and watched her sleep.  
This didn't last too long. There was a loud knock on the door. Sighing, I opened the door and looked out to see the little imp, Jaken. "Is Rin still in here?" he demanded. "She is." I replied, "Why?" "It is time for us to go." he replied. "You can come in." I said moving so that Jaken could enter the room. Not only did he come in, but Mikoto did too.  
"Good morning." he said kissing me on the top of the head. "Good morning." I replied. "Come on Rin!" Jaken said shaking the girl, "Let's go! Sesshoumaru-sama is waiting!" She opened one eye. "But Rin's so comfy here!" Rin insisted. "Come on!" Jaken prompted harshly.  
She jumped out of bed and ran over to me, latching her arms around me. "I why can't we stay here longer?" she asked, "I like Kyo-san. She's nice." "Sesshoumaru has other things to do besides vacation here." Rin sighed and then ran out of the room, going to the main hall where Sesshoumaru was waiting.  
"That girl is so stupid." Jaken said, "I don't know why you put up with her, Lady Kyo." "I didn't mind." I replied shrugging, "I'm half human anyway." His eyes practically popped out of his head. "Another half breed?!" Jaken screamed, "And here I thought you were worthy of my respect! I can't believe it! I, Jaken, Lord Sesshoumaru's faithful servant respectful to a HANYOU!" He started running around in circles screaming curses at me. It was the strangest thing I had ever seen.  
After a few seconds of this, Mikoto walked up to the imp and kicked him. He went flying against the opposit wall. "No one insults my mate." he said pulling me close. Jaken screetched and ran out of the room, a large bump forming on the side of his head.  
"Thanks." I said. "No problem." Mikoto replied, "It's my responceability to make sure everyone treats you with respect." "I can stand up for myself." I pointed out. "True." he agreed, "But it's still my job to watch out for you." He held me tighter. "You're being possessive." I told him. "I suppose I am." Mikoto said with a laugh, making his gasp on me a little looser, "But you can't blame me. It's my instincts to be possesive."  
"Whatever." I replied, "Was there something you wanted to talk with me about?" "There is." he admitted, "I've got to go away." "Why?" I asked, "You just got here! Why leave again?" "It's my duty to go where ever I am needed." Mikoto told me, "Even if I'm leaving you, my new mate, behind." "Could I go with you?" I questioned. "No." came the quick reply.  
"Why not?" I asked pouting, "You know I like to travel and that I'm used to it. And I already said I could take care of myself. You wouldn't have to be around me 24/7 if that's what you're worried about." "It's not that." Mikoto said sighing, "There's a bunch of things. First is that I'll be traveling with Sesshoumaru. He killed you before and he could do it again. I don't want to take the risk. And second, being my mate, you are in charge of the castle while I'm gone. What would happen if you weren't here?"  
"Kallani could watch the castle like she's done for the past few years." I replied, still pouting, "And I don't care about Sesshoumaru. I'll be more careful around him now that I know what he can do. Please let me go with you!" "No." he said a little sternly, "You won't be going with me. You're safe here and I want you to stay safe."  
"But it will be boring if you keep me stuck in here all the time." I insisted, "You're not planning to do that, are you?" "Of course not." Mikoto said, "I'd be an awful mate to do that. I'll bring you on my trips a lot of the time, just not this one. Okay?"  
"No." I retorted, "I want to go!" "You don't have a choice." he told me sighing, "I've got to go now. I should be back in a week or two. Maybe three at the most." Mikoto let go of me and began walking walking towards the library door. Suddenly he stopped, turned around to face me, and smiled. "What?" I asked. "Nothing Kitten." he replied shaking his head, "Nothing." With that he walked out of the library.

* * *

Inuyasha: What was he smiling about? 

Kagome: I don't know. Kyo doesn't know. The only person who does know is Mikoto.

Shippo: That rhymed!

Kagome: It did! How funny!

Inuyasha: Feh. I still want to know.

Clear Waters: Well then you'll have to wait. Hey, who knows maybe he was smiling at her just because he wanted to.

Inuyasha: You wouldn't put something like that in with that sort of crappy explanation.

Clear Waters: I'm so glad you're getting to know me.

Miroku: I'd like to get to know you better, did you know that?

Sango: Shut up monk.

Miroku: What have I said, my dear Sango?

Sango: Too much.

Clear Waters: Sometimes I wonder if you know what you're saying Miroku.

Inuyasha: Oh he knows alright.

Clear Waters: Whatever. R&R everyone!


	20. When the Cat's Away

**love-bracelet123-** Sure, I'll read your story. But I'm not sure when I'll get around to it. I'm always really busy. It's the same reason I haven't updated lately. Sorry!!!!

**Dragon Man 180- **Hmmm. I like your idea. Maybe that will happen the next time they visit.

**LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- **Figure out why Mikoto is smiling? That's not going to be for a while!

**Cirrus- **Updating! But that doesn't mean you'll find out why Mikoto was smiling. It's a secret!!! oo

**Mystic Bynd- **Yes! Exactly! Well, I know too, but hey, I'm the author.

**Wolf of Fire- **You're going to have to wait a while to find out why Mikoto was smiling. I never imagined that one smile could get so many people to want to read my story! Wow!

**Heart of Friendship- **Well it's not like Mikoto is Sesshoumaru. I mean, Mikoto does smile. It's just that this was a special smile.

**Lil'killer- **I don't mean to be mean, but go ahead and go after your little sister's room. Why knock out Shippo?!?! He's the cutest little thing in the world. Now Miroku I could get Inuyasha to knock out. (glares at Miroku) Jaken is the slowest little idiot in the whole story. Of course he wouldn't put two and two together and figure out that Kyo's a hanyou on his own. -.-;

**animecraze11-** Updated!

**Sorona- **It's alright. Maybe Mikoto is getting her a present… Maybe he's meeting with other demon lords. Maybe both.

**Jimsessouni-Kudokenshin- **Thanks! Don't worry about it.

**Lenipez sideshow- **Well not exactly home alone. We've also got Kallani and (shudder!) Kuruzena to look after Kyo. Not to mention Taoa. She'll be fine.

* * *

Sighing a bit, and wondering why Mikoto had given me such a smile a lot, I made my way into a room with a window overlooking the front entrance and watched Mikoto leave with Rin, Jaken, and Lord Sesshoumaru.  
"Are they gone?" Kallani asked, walking into the room. "Yeah." I replied, "Why?" "Just wondering." She told me, "It's sort of sad to see Mikoto leaving already. He's only been here a few days." "Yeah." I agreed, "I tried to talk him into staying, but he left anyway." "His job requires that he travel." Kallani explained, "I bet he'd have rather stayed here with you than leave again, but he can't ignore his job now that he's accepted it."  
"I guess." I said nodding. "And besides," she continued, "Now you're in charge of the castle until he gets back!" I turned quickly around to her. "What?!" I demanded, "I don't know the first thing about running a castle!" Kallani sighed. "I thought I was going to have vacation." She told me, "But I guess not. You need to learn how to run a household. And I'm the only one who knows how to… besides Kuruzena. But I don't think you want her showing you how."  
"No." I said smiling, "She freaked me out." "She freaks us all out." Kallani assured me, "She doesn't like anyone. She doesn't like me because she disapproved of me running the house. She disapproves of Mikoto because his mother was a hanyou. And she disapproves of you because you're a hanyou. But don't worry. Kuruzena is as loyal as they get even if it doesn't seem like it. She'll help you if you ever are in trouble."  
I nodded. "So do you want to play that game of yours?" Kallani asked, "It's so simple, but it's so amazing." I grinned. "Sure." I replied.  
A few minutes later we were in the library, playing Chutes and Ladders on the rug. "I'd never think people our age would like Chutes and Ladders so much." I commented. "Why?" Kallani asked, looking up from her move. "It's a little kid game in my time." I told her, "For kids about Rin's age. That's why I made it. "I think it's clever." Kallani stated, "Who cares what age group it was made for." "Sounds good to me." I said grinning.

Kuruzena burst through the door. "Lady Kyo!" she exclaimed, "Lady Kallani! What in the world are you doing on the floor like little children?" "Playing Kyo's game." Kallani replied. "You shouldn't be on the floor!" the housekeeper said, "Get up!" I got up. Kallani had told me that Kuruzena was good and loyal, but that didn't mean she was scary too.  
Seeing that I got up, so did Kallani. "What do you want?" she asked the woman. "I was coming to ask if you would like some tea, but if you will be acting this way, like little kittens, I don't think I will ask." "Tea sounds good at the moment." Kallani said cheerfully. Kuruzena glared at her. "Alright." Kallani commented, "I guess I'll go get it for myself. Want any Kyo?" "Okay." I replied. She walked out of the room.  
"You say 'yes'." Kuruzena said as soon as the door was closed. "What?" I asked. "If someone asked you if you would like something, don't say 'yeah', or 'okay', or 'sure', or 'whatever'. You say 'yes'." "Alright." I said a little unsurely. "'Yes'!" Kuruzena snapped, "And when you don't understand something, don't say 'what' say 'excuse me' or 'I beg your pardon'."  
I stared at her blankly. "And don't stare!" Kuruzena continued, "It's rude." "Oh!" I said snapping out of it, "I'm sorry!" "At least you have some sort of manners." Kuruzena grumbled. "I was raised in a different way than you." I told her. "And in another social class too no doubt." Kuruzena said, "You will need some serious work if you ever want to become a good Lady of the Northern Lands."  
"Lay off her." Kallani said walking into the room with a tray of tea, "She's stressed out, can't you see? And I'll teach her all she needs. I have a hard time believing she wants you to teach her." "You are not a good teacher." Kuruzena said loftily, "You were lying on the floor with her." "Dismissed." Kallani told her coldly. Glaring, the housekeeper walked out of the room.  
"Don't let her push you around, okay?" Kallani asked, "She's at no position to tell you what to do." "How'd you get her to leave?" I asked, "I thought she never would." "Being part of the family Kuruzena serves, I can tell her what to do." she explained, "Dismissed is the only command like that she'll listen to though."  
"She was telling me how to talk correctly." I said. Kallani rolled her eyes. "Don't listen." She told me, "Kuruzena's always telling me how to speak. I just ignore her. Anything you _need_ to know, I'll tell you." "Thanks." I said. "No problem."

That night at dinner Kallani and I discussed my last conversation with Mikoto. "So what was the last thing Mikoto said to you before leaving today?" Kallani asked. "Well it was more like a whole scene." I said laughing, "You know Sesshoumaru's little imp, Jaken?" "Yeah." "Well he didn't know I was a hanyou." "He didn't?" Kallani repeated, "I knew he was thick, but that's just plain impossible to miss!"  
"Well he started running around crazily." I continued, "He was cursing at me and being stupid. Mikoto punted him into a wall." "What's 'punted'." Kallani asked. "It's a word from my time." I explained, "Sorry. It's another word for kicked." "Oh." She said, "Go on." "Well then Jaken and Rin left and Mikoto was still pretty mad at Jaken for insulting me. He told me he had to go and I asked him to stay or at least bring me with him. He said no to both sadly enough."  
"He was traveling with Sesshoumaru." Kallani said shrugging, "I know he's killed you once before. Mikoto probably thought you were safer her. I can't blame him." "Mikoto was walking away when he stopped, turned around, and smiled at me." I explained, "It was a little weird because we had been fighting before. Do you know why he was smiling?"  
"Mikoto's sweet." Kallani told me, "He was probably just trying to make it up to you after a fight-" She stopped. "What?" I asked, "What is it?" She grinned at me. "I know why Mikoto was smiling." She said, grinning broader. "Why?" I asked. "Mikoto will want to be the one to tell you." Kallani said, "I'm not going to tell. It'll make him upset." "Tell me!" I begged. "Nope." "Please???" "Not gonna happen." I had learned no more.

* * *

Inuyasha: JUST TELL US WHY HE WAS SMILING DAMN IT!!!!!!!!!!!

Clear Waters: In your dreams.

Miroku: Good night.

Inuyasha: What the hell?

Miroku: Lady Clear Waters said 'In your dreams' I wish to find out why Mikoto was smiling. Therefore I am going to sleep and dream.

Inuyasha: I knew you were a pervert, but I didn't know you were an idiot too! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO FIND OUT THE ANSWER IN YOUR DREAMS!!

Miroku: But-

Kagome: It's a saying, Miroku. I means nothing.

Miroku: Oh. Of course. Silly me.

Clear Waters: Right... R&R everyone!


	21. Sanouskai

The Third Family

**ZeldaAlly- **Well two people have already guessed why Mikoto was smiling. But that's only two. I'll give more clues in the next few chapters.

**Cirrus- **We're always talking on IM and yet I always forget to talk to you about Mikoto's smiling reasons. -.-; Oh well.

**LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- **(big grin)

**Lighting/Wolf Demon- **Thank you Mikoto. The reason you smiled is not getting out.

**Wolf of Fire- **Uh oh.... my reviewers are dying......

**DarkPirate-510- **Everyone wants to know!!

**Mystic Bynd- **I know "since he killed you that one time..." sounds weird. That's why I like it so much! It's not something you hear everyday.

**animecraze11- **Thanks!

**draconisregent- **Shhhhh!!!!!!!

**Author's note****-** I'm quite aware that I'm driving you guys nutty by not saying why Mikoto was smiling. If anyone wants to try to attempt to talk me into telling them why he was smiling, my IM is MizuYoukai50 I'm on a whole lot. Also, if you think you know why Mikoto was smiling PLEASE DO NOT put it in a review. You can say you think you know in the review, but don't put in your guess. If you want to know if you're right or wrong email or IM me. My email is 

* * *

The next morning I took a walk with Taoa in the gardens. Though it was the middle of winter the flowers were still blooming. "These winter flowers are amazing, aren't they?"someone asked,"Lord Mikoto's mother created them so they could bloom during the winter years."I turned around to see a man behind me. He was dressed in simple peasent clothes like the men at Kaede's village wore. His messy golden hair and dark eyes made him look friendly.  
"Who are you?" I asked. "The name's Sanouskai." he replied brightly, "I'm the gardener in the castle." "I thought Mikoto said his father got rid of all the gardeners after his mother died." I replied. "He stopped paying them, so they all left except me." Sanouskai explained, "I thought it would be a shame if they all died. I take it I'm talking to the Lady Kyo?"  
"Yes." I replied nodding, "And this is my demon fire cat, Taoa." "Hello Taoa." he greeted cheefully. Taoa took a step back and growled. "I'm sorry." I said frowning, "I don't know what could have gotten into her to make her not like you." "I've got a bit of dog demon blood in me." Sanouskai replied shrugging, "That might be it." "Maybe." I agreed.  
"Shall I show you around the garden?" he asked me. "That's alright." I answered, "Kallani showed me around before." "Then at least let me tell you about the demon lord family and their castle while we walk." Sanouskai insisted  
"That would be okay." I said. We began to walk again, followed by Taoa who played with the flowers as we went.  
"Lord Mikoto's mother was a radient beauty."Sanouskai told me, "Her hair was bright blond, much brighter than Lord Mikoto's. She had ears like his. And the same bright blue eyes too. As for his father, the late lord was very handsome if I might say so myself. Black hair, dark blue eyes... Quite tall too. They were such a happy couple. I bet you and Lord Mikoto will be just like them.  
"I bet we will." I agreed. "The castle was built and designed by Lord Mikoto's great great grandfather." he continued, "It's quite an unusual castle as you've seen." "It looks like an English castle from the inside." I said nodding. "A what?" Sanouskai asked me. "Never mind." I replied quickly, "It's too hard to explain."  
"Lady Kyo!" someone called. I turned around to see Kurozena hurrying up towards us. "You should not be talking with the servants!" She came up to us and glared at Sanousakai. "Especially not the garden help." she continued, "You know Sanouskai, you might not be getting paid, but I can still kick you out of this castle if you do not go by the rules."  
"He wasn't bothering me." I assured Kurozena. Her gaze went back to me. "That doesn't matter." she told me, "What matters is that he stays away from the noblity living in the castle. As for you Lady Kyo. You shouldn't have been talking to him either. You get half the blame."  
"Why shouldn't I talk to him?" I challanged. "It's simply not done!" Kurozena replied, "That's why. And milady, it is fine to take walks in the garden with one's pet, but do not doit with a gardener. It's improper. Now come along back to the castle. 

Back in the castle, I went up to my library to find Kallani reading a scroll. "Good morning." she said looking up, "Where were you?" "In the library walking with Taoa." I replied sitting down, "I met the gardener." "Sanouskai?" she asked, "He's nice, isn't he?" "Yeah." I agreed, "Kurozena came out and told me not to talk to him again though."  
Kallani rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to that old bat." she told me, "I talk to him all the time. He's great with my aunt's flowers and plants too. Plus we don't pay him, but he still sticks around."  
"Taoa didn't like him." I commented. She shrugged. "I haven't met an animal that liked him." Kallani said, "That's the weird thing about him. Animals hate him." "That's awful!" I exclaimed, "I don't know how I'd be able to live if animals hated me!" "Me too." Kallani replied, "But Sanouskai seems to manage just fine."  
There was a a few moments of silence. "Oh yeah!" Kallani said grinning, "Last week before you and Mikoto came someone came to the castle selling fresh fruit. I managed to get the lastapple for you." She tossed me a bright red apple. "Thanks." I said biting into it, "It's really good." "You're welcome." she replied, "We've got to eat as healthy as we can during these winter months. Especially you."  
Kallani's last comment didn't make any sense, but I didn't comment.

* * *

Kagome: That Kurozena person really isn't that nice. She was so mean to Sanouskai! He seems so nice!

Clear Waters: He does, doesn't he?

Sango: But Taoa doesn't like him...

Miroku: But Kallani said that no animals like Sanouskai.

Sango: True.

Inuyasha: What's up with that apple? That was just random.

Kagome: I agree. It was random.

Clear Waters: It has meaning.

Inuyasha: What?

Clear Waters: Not telling.

Inuyasha: Not telling?

Clear Waters: Nope. R&R everyone!

Inuyasha: NOT TELLING?!?!? TELL ME DAMN IT!!!


	22. Surprise

The Third Family

**Dragon Man 180- **Shhhhhh!!!

**draconisregent- **Yup!

**Mystic Bynd- **Hmm. I never thought of the Snow White thing. Apples are my favorite fruit so I just stuck it in. And if you keep on bringing that other thing up, you've either forgotten something, or missed something.

**ZeldaAlly- **Whoops. It was supposed to be 'In the garden walking with Taoa.' Heehee.

**Wolf of Fire- **Here's an update!

**SaNgO.:303 (LiL:.CaT:.AnImE)- **I believe you.

**Lightning/Wolf Demon- **If you know don't say!!!!

**Heart of Friendship- **Half your email disappeared...

**Cirrus- **Saftly policies are for our own safety!

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: What you've all been waiting for is going to be revealed in this chapter!!!! Why was Mikoto smiling?!?!?!?!?!?**

* * *

A week past and finally Mikoto returned home. Kallani and I were outside in the garden waiting for him. He came back alone. I assumed Rin, Jaken, andSesshoumaru, had returned tothe taiyoukai's castle, or back to traveling. Mikoto swept me up into a big hug. "It's good to be back." he told me happily, "Do anything interesting while I was gone?"  
"It was boring." Kallani said sighing, "Like always. Well maybe a little less boring." "How so?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well Kyo and I played that game Kyo made for Rin." she explained, "And Kyo met Sanouskai in the gardens." "He's nice, isn't he?" Mikoto asked me. "Yeah." I agreed, "He is nice. But Kurozena wouldn't let me talk with him." He rolled his eyes. "Kurozena is into being very proper." Mikoto explained, "Just ignore her. She'll stop getting on your case after a while."  
"That's what I told her." Kallani said nodding. "You didn't tell me the part about Kurozena stopping annoying me." I retorted. She laughed. "True." Kallani admitted, "But to warn you, she doesn't stop completely. She just stops trying to rule your life." "That's better than what she's doing now." I commented.  
"She doesn't bother me." Mikoto put in. "That's because she can't." Kallani replied, "You're running this whole place!" "True." he said shaking his head. He looked over to me. "Will you walk with me?" Mikoto asked. "Sure." I replied. Kallani nodded towards us and walked back into the castle.  
Mikoto led me into the gardens and we walked around in silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, in fact it was the opposite. We were both so relaxed. Now that I think back on it, it was a very cute scene too. I was resting my head on Mikoto's shoulder, while he rested his head on mine.I was very happy he was home and I think he was glad he was home too.  
After about a half an hour of walking around the gardens we sat down on a bench in a garden full of sunflowers. I knew that the flowers bloomed at all times of the year because of Mikoto's mother, but it was still strange to see a flower that I associated with summer in full bloom in the middle of winter. It was nice.  
"I have something to tell you Kyo." Mikoto said. I stopped looking at the flowers and looked at Mikoto. "What is it?" I asked. "Well I don't want to say this too bluntly..." he said trailing off. "Just say it." I prompted. I wasn't sure what to expect. Was it good? Was it bad? Would he have to leave again? Or perhaps it was worse than that.  
"Are you sure?" Mikoto asked. "Positive." I replied. In all truth I really wasn't, but I had prepared myself for anything he could say. "You're pregnant." Except that. I stared at him, in amazement, unsure of what to say.  
Mikoto laughed and hugged me. "I smelled it on you right before I left." he explained, "But I didn't want to tell you then. I wanted the time I told you to be special. And right now is as special as it's going to get." "Wow." I said grinning. I could hardly speak I was so amazed. "I'm so excited!" he told me, "We should start thinking about names! And what room the kid will have!"  
"Aren't you going a little fast?" I asked him, "I mean we do have nine months to think about all this." "True." He agreed, "But it's never too early? Right?" I laughed. "As long as we know I'm going to have a baby, no, I guess not." I replied.  
We both got up. I think I fainted. 

The next thing I remembered was that I was lying on my bed and Mikoto was sitting on a chair next to it. "Too much excitement all at once?" he asked stroking my hair. I smiled up at him. "Yeah." I said noddling, "That's probably it. I sat up. "Careful." he warned, "I don't want you fainting again." "I won't." I assured him. "That's what I want to hear." he cooed. I rolled my eyes and stood up.  
We met Kallani a bit down the hall. "You're up!" she said happily, "I'm so glad!" "You knew." I said smirking. "Yeah." she admitted, "And aren't you glad I didn't tell?" I thought about this for a moment. "Yeah." I replied, "I am."  
All three of us began walking downstairs. "I think if it's a girl we should name her Medoriko!" Mikoto declared. "Really?" I asked, "I've heard that name before." "Of course you have." Kallani said nodding, "She's the one who made the Shikon no Tama." "Right." I replied grinning, "But she was also a priestess who killed demons. Why name our child after someone like that?"  
"Because she only killed the trouble makers." Mikoto explained, "Us demons respect her, unless of course we're the trouble makers. But we're not the trouble makers. Medoriko was somewhat like your friend Sango. Hey, maybe we should name our child Sango? Or Kyo?" "What makes you think our child will be a girl?" I questioned, "What if it's a boy? And besides, I'll never name my child Kyo. My parents gave me that name out of hate. A little name for the child they cared little for."

* * *

Kagome: Ohh! That's so sad!!! 

Miroku: What? The fact that Kyo's going to have a baby? I think that's wonderful news!

Kagome: No! The thing about Kyo's name.

Sango: Yeah, that was sad.

Shippo: Yay!!! Kyo's going to have a baby and I'll have a friend!!!

Inuyasha: But you'll have to wait about six years before the kid's worth playing with.

Miroku: Aren't we your friends Shippo?

Shippo: Yeah, but I meant a kid my age.

Kagome: You'll be older than Kyo's child.

Shippo: You're right.

Clear Waters: There you have it! The reason Mikoto was smiling!!!!!! R&R everyone!


	23. Kenzoku

The Third Family

**Wolf of Fire- **Yup, that's why he was smiling.

**Dragon Man 180- **I don't think Shippo would mind babysitting the kid. It would keep _him_ entertained. Not just the baby.

**LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- **I like your story. :)

**Mystic Bynd- **I made a big deal out of this one, I DON'T DO LEMONS! So I just mentioned they were going to do it at the end of chapter 15.

**ZeldaAlly- **You know Inuyasha, he likes to say things that aren't 100 precent true. I've got a bunch of little cousins and I have a blast with them. :)

**Cirrus-** :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

**draconisregent- **Yeah!

**Rian- **The name of Kyo's baby has been chosen. But I'm not telling!

**Jimsessouni-Kudokenshin-** Yup! Shippo gets a playmate!

**Lightning/Wolf Demon- **Hmmm. How much is your floor bill? I'll compare. :)

* * *

Walking around the castle and gardens with Mikoto, exchanging stories of our pasts became a habbit over the next few weeks. It was strange but we never seemed to run out of stories to tell. As those few weeks passed it became more and more evident that I was pregnant. The best thing about that was that Kurozena became a little nicer to me.  
Well anyway, the first time Mikoto mentioned the ball we were in his study. I was spread out on the floor in front of Mikoto's desk, reading a scroll containing some history of the family. There's some sort of really soft demon pelt there. I think Mikoto said it was a rabbit demon. Back to the story, Mikoto was at his desk, working on something. Idon't know what it was, but it really doesn't matter.  
"Kyo?" he asked. "Yeah?" "I keep on forgetting to tell you this, but I finally remembered." he started, "You've got to host a ball." "A ball?!" I exclaimed, "How? When? Why? Where?" Mikoto laughed. "Well I'll answer why first." he replied, "Because we're youkai nobility it's expected that we have a lot of social events. There's balls for everything. Mating, an expected child, a birth, birthdays. but you only need a party for your first, tenth, twenty fifth, one hundreth, and five hundreth birthdays. I think."  
"Okay." I said nodding, "That makes sense, sort of. But we didn't have a ball for our mating." "There's exceptions." Mikoto explained, "I used the exception of traveling to get out of that one. Let's just say after the first one hundred balls you get bored of them, but they're required. As for when the ball will be, very soon." Mikoto continued, "In around a month. You'll choose the final date."  
"Why me?" I asked. "That brings me into your question of how." he said grinning, "You being Lady of the house, it's your job to plan the entire thing, invite the people, and, whatever else is needed to be done." "Sounds hard." I commented. "I don't know. Talk to Kallani." Mikoto suggested, "She'll tell you how hard it is and give you directions and such."  
"But where?" I questioned, "You haven't answered that yet." "What sort of castle would this be if we didn't have a ballroom?"my mate asked me. "You mean we have a ballroom?" I questioned. "Of course!" Mikoto exclaimed, "Come on, I'll show it to you." 

Mikoto led me into the ballroom a few minutes later. It turned out to be through a large set of double doors off of the dining room that I had never thought to explore. I don't know why. Now I wish I had. The room was huge. The ceilings were easily twenty feet above me. I suspected that over one hundred people could be in the room and it still wouldn't stuffed. It was definitely a ballroom. "Like it?" Mikoto asked. "I think it's amazing!" I exclaimed, "In all those years of exploring Japan and the castles in it, I don't think I've ever been in a room so large!" "It is big." he agreed, "It has to be big. Some guests refuse to come in a humaid form." I laughed. "Like who?" I asked laughing a bit. Mikoto thought about it for a moment. "The last ball we held here, I believe the mongoose lord and bear lord decided to come in their full demon glory." he replied, "the lord mongoose was alright, but the lord bear on the other hand... Much bigger than an usual bear."  
Now I was confused. "I thought there was only four demon lords." I commented, "North, south, east, and west." "There are more than just the north, south, east, and west, demon lords." Mikoto told me, "Those demon lords, us, we're just, I guess you could say, the 'high lords'. There's a demon lord for each type of demon. But if they're not the Dog Lord, Cat Lord, Dragon Lord, or Snake Lord, they're considered 'lesser lords'. Those other four are the 'high lords'" "That makes sense." I said nodding and thinking about all the stuff I learned about the feudal system at school.  
I began wandering around the room. There were decorations on the wall every once in a while. A wreath or dried flowers, a picture of some old lord, a wall scone, not lit. There were a few daggers on the wall. I stopped in front of a great, old, sword. Its grip was made out of black and white leather.The sheath was made out of silver, engraved with beautiful designs. Those meanings were unknown to me. It was well kept, but I could tell it was old and well used.  
Mikoto walked up behind me. "I forgot about this thing." he said chuckling. My mate reached over me and took the sword down from its holder. "This is Kenzoku." Mikoto explained, "It's sort of like Tetsusaiga in a way." "It was made from one of your father's fangs?" I guessed. "No." he replied, "More like Tokijin I guess you could say." "It doesn't seem to have an evil aura around it." I commented. Mikoto sweat dropped. "Am Ian evil demon?" he asked me. "Sesshoumaru's not an evil demon and he weilds a sword with an evil aura." I pointed out. "Sesshoumaru not being evil is an opinion only you and I hold." "So why are we talking about it?" I questioned. "Bad description."Mikoto said shaking his head.  
"Then describe Kenzoku in your own words and don't compare it to anything." I retorted. He nodded and began to explain. "Kenzoku is a sword that is passed down from generation to generation in this family. It's not made out of a fang, or a claw or anything, just good quality metal. It doesn't have an evil aura, but a rather unique one. It's a bit weird, if I may say so myself. The aura only lets people of this family touch it. And only the current lord can control the power within it."  
"Am I considered a part of the family or is it only blood relitives?" I inquired. "You can touch it. Kallani can too." Mikoto told me, "Kenzoku was designed to help the lord protect his family. Even if you can't us its powers, you can use it as a usual sword. It's sharp, unlike Tetsusaiga."  
"I get it!" I said happily, "You tried to compare it to Tetsusaiga because it was made to protect the lord's family just like Tetsusaiga was made to protect Inuyasha's mother. And you tried to compare it to Tokijin because it has an unusual aura around it!"  
"Exactly." he replied, "I guess I'd better take it, just in case. Kallani probably put it in here after my father died." "Are you expecting something to happen?" I asked, slightly alarmed. Mikoto slipped Kenzoku into his belt. "No, but it's always best to be prepared."he told me, "Now let's go back to my study. It's awfully lonely in here when it's only the two of us. This room is just too big!" "Okay." I said laughing.

* * *

Inuyasha: So Mikoto's got a sword of his own now. 

Miroku: Yup. I wonder why only people in the family are allowed to touch it.

Kagome: Some sort of anti-theif?

Sango: It's gotta be that. I mean, if no one can hold it unless the person's family...

Inuyasha: I wonder what sort of powers the sword has!

Shippo: Probably better than Tetsusaiga.

Inuyasha: WHAT?!?!?!

Miroku: Why would you say something like that, Shippo?

Shippo: To get Inuyasha annoyed.

Inuyasha: Tetsusaiga's better than ANY sword in the entire WORLD!!!

Clear Waters: I'd have to agree.

Inuyasha: (beats up Shippo)

Shippo: KAGOME!!!!! Inuyasha's hurting me!!!!!!!

Kagome: I'm not bailing you out of this one Shippo. You asked for it.

Shippo: AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Inuyasha: I'm gonna beat you SENSELESS brat!!!!!!!!!!

Clear Waters: Uh... Yeah. R&R everyone! - Inuyasha! DO NOT THROW SHIPPO OUT OF THE WINDOW!!!!!!!!!!


	24. The Boxes

The Third Family

**Wolf of Fire-** Why do you want to throw Shippo out a window?!? O.O;

**Mystic Bynd- **Yeah, it would show, but I don't think they care. As for Shippo, why do you want to throw him out a window too?!?!

**Dragon Man 180- **Actually Kuruzena is going to be nicer than I'm playing her out to be. She'll be a lot of help... in her own little annoying ways. :)

**ZeldaAlly- **Don't worry about the short review. :) And I'm happy to say Shippo went free and DID NOT fly out a window.

**LiL:.CaT:.AnImE- **Yay! I'm getting better at discription!!!!!

**A.B.C.:.Otaku- **Yup! Now Mikoto's got a sword! :)

**draconisregent- **Yes. My dreams of owning a laptop go down the holes that Kagome makes in my floor. -.-;;;

**Rian- **Just as powerful as Tetsusaiga!

**Tempermental Demon- **I think that was the longest review I've ever gotten...

**Author's Note**: A while ago I got int trouble with Fan because of the long list of reviews I had at the begining of Dear Santa. They ended up taking the story off. Just so that doesn't happen to The Third Family, I will not answer reviews if I have more than ten from now on. I'm not saying that I don't want reviews. I LOVE REVIEWS! :) It's just that I don't want all my hard work that I've put into this story to go poof down the digital drain of the world wide web.

* * *

"So Mikoto just randomly told you that you had to throw a ball?" Kallani asked. I nodded. "Sounds just like him." she replied rolling her eyes, "Luckily it's not that hard to throw a ball together." "It's not?" I questioned. "Not at all." Kallani answered cheerfully, "First we come up with a date. Then we send out all the invitations.After thatwe find room for all the guests in the castle because they'll stay for a week or two. And lastly we work out decorations and food. Simple."  
"That's what you say." I grumbled, "It sounds impossible!" Kallani laughed. "But it's not!" she insisted, "We'll start right now. Today's Janurary second. So that means we'll have the ball some time in Februrary. Choose a day, it doesn't matter what." "The fourteenth." I replied. Valentine's Day. What a perfect time for a ball. Who cared if St. Valentine probably hadn't been born yet?  
Kallani nodded. "That's a good day." she said nodding. The full demoness wrote the date down on a little scrap of paper. "Even though hosting a ball is simple, you're going to need to have a place to spread out and stay orginized." "Thta makes sense." I said nodding.  
"We're getting you your own office."  
"What?!"  
"Just what I said." Kallani replied, "You're going to need your own office. Don't think this is going to be the only ball you host in your life time. You'll be hosting a whole lot. Let's go talk to Mikoto." 

"Her own office?" Mikoto repeated. "Yes." Kallani said, "I know you dislike social functions like balls, but they're required and Kyo'll need a space to work them out." He nodded. "Of course." Mikoto replied, "My mother had an office just for that. It's the one next to mine. I think all of her information and such should be still in there."  
"Yes." Kallani said nodding, "That's a nice room." She turned to me. "You'll like it Kyo." Kallani motioned for me to follow and walked out of the room. "Don't over work yourself on this Kitten." Mikoto warned me, "You've got pleanty of time." "Don't worry." I replied, "I won't." I hurried after Kallani.

"Is this Mikoto's mother's office?" I asked looking around the room. There were some bookshelves in it, butthe walls weren't lined with them like inMikoto's office. There were a lot of cabinets though. At the end of the room was a desk that looked exactly like Mikoto's. But what really caught my eye was apainting that was in the room.It one was huge. I swear it was life size. The picture was of a man and a woman sitting side by side in a garden of white roses. The woman was beautiful.Her black hair was pulled into a braid that was hanging over her right shoulder. Two off white cat ears poked out of her hair, contrasting perfectly with the black of her hair. The woman's over kimono was a light green embroidered with yellow flowers and darker green leaves. Her under kimono was a pretty powder blue. The man next to her wore black haori pants, and a red haori top enbroidered with silver and gold. The gold in the haori set off the gold of his hair that reached the top of his ears, waving gently. The man's crystal blue eye finished the whole picture off.  
"That's Mikoto's parents." Kallani said, seeing me look at the picture. "They were beautiful." I commented. "And kind." she added, "Just as kind and fair as they were good looking."  
I walkedbehindthe desk and started looking around at the stuff on it. There was a quill and ink well. The inkwell was full. There was a pile of papers neatly stacked. It was a bit creepy. I knew that Mikoto's mother had been dead for years, but it looked like she had only been here right before we arrived.  
Another painting caught my eye. This one was a lot smaller. It was only about a foot tall. Like in the last picture, there was two people in it. I reconized Mikoto's mother. This time her black hair was down. I hadn't noticed how long her hair was in the other picture. She was wearing crimson in this picture. A little boy was sitting in her lap. His blond hair and blue eyes matched his father's but the cat ears were unmistakenly his mothers.  
I grinned and flipped the picture around so that Kallani could see. "Mikoto and his mother?" I guessed. "Eight year old Mikoto and his mother." Kallani said nodding. There was some writing on the back of the picture. Two names. The first one was easy to read. Mitsuki. The other was a little harder to read, but I finally deciphered Mikoto after a few seconds.  
"The artist had them sign it after he was done." Kallani explained, "But enough art explanations. Let's get down to buisness." She opened one of the cabinets and pulled out a few big boxes, placing them on the floor. "There are all the people you should think about inviting." Kallani told me, "There's a page on each guest that says their title, family members, and different balls and social occations they've been to here. It'll help you decide who should invite."  
I looked over the boxes. There were four in all and let's just say they weren't little boxes. Each box was a little bigger than a file cabinet drawer.  
About fifteen minutes into the job I pulled out file. Reading it over, I smirked. The file was none other than Inuyasha's fathers. "Interested in inviting that person?" Kallani asked. "Even if I did want to invite him, I couldn't." I replied, "He's dead. Kallani took the paper and laughed. "That he is." she agreed, "I've got Sesshoumaru's file on the invite pile. I'll just throw this one out."  
Nodding, something occured to me. "How up to date are these?" I asked. Kallani shrugged, "I've only thrown one ball while Mikoto was away so I really don't know. Probably they haven't been updated since Mikoto's mother died." I sweat dropped. "And how do we know there aren't other dead people records in here?" I asked. Kallani shrugged again. "We won't know until we send them out." she replied.

About an hour later, we had seventy six people on the guest list, pulled out four other people from the boxes that Kallani was sure were dead, and added, Inuyasha and the gang into the inventory.  
"That's enough for today." Kallani told me, "We'll start writing all the invitations tomorrow." "You mean we have to write seventy six invitations?" I asked. "No." Kallani replied, "Only sixty three. There's a lot of families and five of the guests are your friends and from what you've told me, we only have to send one invitation for all of them." "Yeah." I agreed, "That's right." "Well I've got to go." Kallani said getting up from the floor, "There's a few things I've got to do by the end of the day and it's already after dark. You don't mind putting away all the boxes by yourself, do you?" "No." I replied, "I'll do it." "Great." Kallani said nodding, "Thanks." She hurried out of the room.   
I absentmindedly started putting the boxes back while wondering where Kallani had gone off to. And what a mistake it was. The boxes were heavy. I didn't get a good grip on one and it slipped out of my fingers, crashing to the ground and spilling out all the papers. I groaned, setting the box upright again. Looking into the box, my eyes caught on a little red book. I grabbed it and put it besides me. I would look at it after I finished cleaning up.

It took me another fifteen minutes to clean up all the papers and put the box back. Finally I sat down at my desk. Opening it up to the first page, I read this: _You have found the diary of Misuki, Lady of the Northern Lands...

* * *

_Inuyasha: You're just going to end it right there?!

Clear Waters: Yup!

Inuyasha: Evil authoress. I should chop you up with the Wind Scar.

Miroku: Inuyasha, are you saying that you liked this chapter?

Inuyasha: I never said that!

Sango: You've never gotten mad about any of Clear Water's cliff hangers before, that's all.

Inuyasha: Shut up, will you?!

Shippo: Oooh! I really do think that Inuyasha liked this chapter!

Clear Waters: Maybe he did! R&R everyone!

Inuyasha: I DID NOT LIKE THIS CHAPTER!

Kagome: Sure Inuyasha.


	25. The Diary

The Third Family

**Author's Note**- Since the last update I have gotten 13 reviews which means that I will not be answering anything... But then I thought, hey! There's some stuff in those reviews that I really want to reply to:) So from now one I'll have an author's note with some of the stuff I want to talk about from all the reviews I got.  
I'm aiming to make the ball funny. Yes, Inuyasha will be ticked off and Miroku will flirt with everyone. I also want to know WHY does EVERYONE (well almost everyone) have SOMETHING against SHIPPO! O.O; Youkai Goddess, it would be fine with me if you used some of my ideas, just don't steal my whole story. I know you won't. As for my writing style, yes, I'm supposed to make a new paragraph everytime someone speaks, but I've been doing this format for a long time. Don't know how I started. I'll probably be moving to the other way soon. It's getting harder for me to make these long paragraph things. I have read the Enchanted Forest Cronicles. I own all 4 books. And for the cliffy... I LOVE CLIFFIES!

* * *

Last Time: It took me another fifteen minutes to clean up all the papers and put the box back. Finally I sat down at my desk. Opening it up to the first page, I read this: _You have found the diary of Misuki, Lady of the Northern Lands...  
_This Time: I gasped. Had I really found Mikoto's mother's diary! Deciding to find out, I returned to the book.  
_Inside this book are my inner most secrets. The things I have done and felt  
like recording or didn't even feel comfortable telling My Lord Kotomo.  
_I guessed that this was Mikoto's father, Misuki's mate.  
_I would like to tell myself that no one will ever read this book and that my  
secrets will stay safe and hidden. But I fear that is not the truth.  
_Ishut the book, feeling a bit guilty for what she was doing. But curiousity got the better ofme andI opened the book once again and continued to read.  
_And for this reason I will write this diary as if I was writing a story and  
acknollage the person who will read this. Perhaps who ever you are reading  
this book is my processor. Maybe it is one of the maids. Maybe it is even my  
dear Mikoto. Whoever it is, I hope you enjoy reading what I have to write.  
Though I fear my life is not much of an interesting one._  
Igrinned. After reading that second partI didn't feel as badly about sneaking a look at Misuki's diary. Maybe reading it would even give me some tips on being the Lady of the Northern Lands. Looking over the size of the book I decided it was small enough that I could carry it around with me without anyone noticing. Slipping it into a little pocket I had installed into my over kimono, I walked out of the room and practically into Mikoto.  
"Hey Kitten." he said, looking down at me, "Where's Kallani?" I shrugged. "Not sure." I admitted, "She left a while ago. She didn't tell me where she was going." Mikoto nodded. "She goes for walks on her own sometimes." he told me, "That's probably where she is. Like your office?" I nodded. "A lot. It's perfect. I especially like those two pictures in there."  
My mate grinned. "I hope you won't tease me about that little picture." he commented, kissing me on the top of the head, "I wouldn't like that." "But you're so cute!" I insisted giggling. Mikoto hugged me. "But I'm not cute now?" he asked. "Nope." I replied, "You're handsome!" He laughed. "You spoil me with your compliements." Mikoto told me. "Isn't that my job as your mate?" I questioned. "I suppose." Mikoto replied kissing me on the top of the head again before letting me out of the hug.

Later that day Kallani and I were sitting in my library. "How are we going to get all these invitations to everyone?" I asked. 'Youki." Kallani replied. "Demon energy?" I repeated, "How?" "I'm not completely sure how it works." my friend admitted, "But all that matters is that it seems to get the invitations to where there supposed to be. Kuruzena does it for us." I nodded.  
_

* * *

_Inuyasha: That was short, wench.

Clear Waters: Oh well.

Inuyasha: What do you mean oh well?

Clear Waters: You'll be coming back into the story soon so don't complain.

Miroku: Really?

Clear Waters: Yup.

Shippo: YAY!

Kagome: I can't wait!

Clear Waters: RR everyone!


	26. A Bit of Family History

The Third Family

**Author's Note**- Heehee. :) Get back material on Mikoto? Don't forget Kyo still has those prayer beads if she needs get back material. Not only will the diary entries be fun toread, they'll be fun to write too! Part of the real diary will be read today:) As of right now there will not be any conspiricies in Misuki's diary. If you have nine lives you must be a cat!  
And I do have something to make up for the last chapter being so short! From now on my old habbit is DEAD AND BURRIED! NEW PARAGRAPH FOR NEW SPEAKERS!

**Second Author's Note****- This is a revised chapter! I got a lot of feedback saying that they really didn't like the name Misuki suggested. It has been changed.**

* * *

Over the next few weeks I was too busy preparing for my guests to read. That or I was around people while I was relaxing. I had decided to keep the book secret until I had read it all the way through. Then I would give it to Mikoto I didn't find anything that would make him upset in it.  
Two weeks before the ball I finally found the time to read the diary. Mikoto was in his office reviewing some reports his father had written. Kallani was taking a walk in the gardens. She had invited me to come along with her, but I had politely declined.  
Now I was cuddled up in my library with the diary on my lap. I opened up to the first real entry and began to read:  
_I found this book yesterday. It was just sitting outside near the waterlily pond. I asked around the servants if any of them had lost a blank book, but none of them had. Oh well. I guess I should explain my ealy life just in case someone does find this diary.  
_I grinned. It was if Misuki had intended her diary to fall into my hands.  
_I'm a half cat demon. My father is lord of the Central Lands. The Central Lands are a small kingdom in the middle of Japan. They're no more that a mile by a mile in property. My mother was a traveling priestess. My father found her one day and they fell in love. Too bad my father already had a mate. When I was born my father took me in and gave me a position of a maid when I got old enough to work. I have to admit that I was treated better than most of the other maids. I was fifteen when milord Kotomo came to my father's lands. He had come on buisness and I had been assigned to serve him. Kotomo spent quite a lot of him in his rooms and we got to know each other very well. On the day before he was planning to go, milord surprised me by requesting I return to his lands with him as his mate. Of course I accepted. My father sent us off with his blessings the next day. I think he was happy that I had found a good match. I don't think milord Kotomo's house keeper liked me.  
But let's get back to what's happening right as I write this. It's been three years since I came here. I still don't think Kurozena likes me that much, but she's learned to respect me. I think. Kotomo and my son, Mikoto, is two years old now. When he was born we were amazed to see that he was a full demon. We were expecting him to be a half demon. Mikoto looks more like his father. His blond hair is a bit darker than Kotomo's, but they have the same eyes. But Mikoto does have my hanyou ears. They're cute.  
_I giggled remembering when I had called Mikoto's ears 'cute' to his face. He had disagreed saying that nothing that had to do with him was 'cute'. But now I had a supporter on my side. Mikoto's ears were cute.  
That was the end of the first entry. I put the book down, under the blankets I had wrapped myself in. Lucky thing I did that. Almost at that exact moment Kurozena walked into the room. She stopped in the doorway when she saw me. "Lady Kyo!" she exclaimed looking me over, "Why are you in such a position!"  
"You mean curled up in my library?" I asked confused.  
"Yes!" she replied.  
"Because It's comfortable."  
"But it is very unsightly!" Kurozena insisted, "This is a public room! Anyone could walk in here and see you in such a casual position! It wouldn't be proper!"  
"This is my library." I pointed out, "I can do anything I want."  
She glared at me. "If you like to relax in that position then do it in your bedroom." Kurozena told me, "That is your only completely private room."  
I rolled my eyes. "So why did you come in here to begin with?" I questioned, "Please don't tell me it was just to tell me off."  
"Of course not." she replied, "I came here to retrieve a scroll." With that said, Kurozena walked over to one of the bookshelves and pulled out a scroll. She then walked back out of the room.  
I untangled myself from the blankets. Now that I had read an entry I could go find Kallani in the gardens. The idea of a walk appealed to me.  
Suddenly I tripped over one of the blankets. In an attempt to keep my balance and not fall I dropped the diary. A small envelope dropped out of the book and onto the floor. As soon as I had my balance back, I leaned over and picked up the letter, a challenge with my swelling belly. Flipping over the enevelpe. I frowned seeing who it was addressed to. Me. I opened it and pulled out a piece of paper.  
_Dear Kyo,_  
_If you have read my first real entry in the diary you know that my mother was a miko. I, being the daugher of a demon only retained one point of her miko powers. That is the gift of foresight. Every once in a while I have a vision of what is to come. Even though it will be years before you are born, I know that you will be my son's mate. You will be a cat hanyou like me. Coming from the future of the future, your childhood was about as bad as you can get. I'm sorry to hear this. Life in the castle is peaceful, but you still must be careful. Even the best lords have enemies. And on a last note, may I suggest the name Raidon for your first child?__  
-Misuki  
_Grinning, I stuck the letter in my pocket along with the diary and went to find Kallani._  
_

_

* * *

_Inuyasha: That's better.

Kagome: What's better?

Inuyasha: The length.

Clear Waters: Yes, I agree. It was much longer than the last chapter. And sorry to everyone who waited so patiently for the next chapter! Please don't hurt me!

Miroku: Why would anyone want to hurt such a beauty as yourself?

Sango: Spare me.

Shippo: And the rest of us.

Clear Waters: R and R everyone!


	27. New Moon Arrivals

The Third Family

**Author's Note**- Gotta love 3 day weekends. Plenty of free time to write! Kuruzena is just an annoying old fart. Misuki knows about Kyo because she was able to see the future, the only miko ability she got from her mom. She explaines that. Misuki is cool, isn't she? Why are you upset Youkai Goddess? Does it have to do with a certain site? I changed the name to Raidon so people won't get confused. Why do people have things against Shippo! He's a cute little guy! Thanks for the compliment!**  
**

* * *

"So what did you do today?" Makoto asked. We were walking through the gardens. The sun was setting and it was pretty warm for a winter evening.  
"Nothing much." I replied, "There isn't much left to do with the ball so I decided to take a break. I read some in my library."  
"That's good." Mikoto said absently, "It's good take a break every once in a while. You've worked hard on this ball, it will be great!" I grinned, leaning my head against his shoulder. We watched the sun go down, walking through the gardens peacefully while doing it.  
My hearing started to become less sharp. My sight did too. Grinning a little I gave a tug on my human ears. "New moon." I commented."  
Mikoto looked down at me. "It appears that way." he replied, "I don't know, I think I like you as a half demon better."  
I frowned. "Why?"  
"Because when you're a human you don't have your adorable cute ears!" he explained.  
I laughed and tugged on his ears. "And you've got your adorable cute ears twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty five days a year!"  
He rolled his eyes. "My ears aren't cute." He told me, "Only your ears are."  
"I beg to differ." I said grinning, "Your ears are just as cute as mine, maybe even cuter!"  
"If you think so." Mikoto answered, "It's getting dark out and I want you back in the castle before you fall or trip over something. Don't try telling me you can see."  
"But I can." I answered innocently, "The sun's still there, just barely."  
Rolling his eyes, Mikoto picked me up and headed back towards the castle.  
When we arrived there, a servant was waiting. "There are guests here." she told us.  
My mate sighed. "Kyo, go wait in your library. I'll make this as quick as possible."  
"The visitors requested to see Lady Kyo as well." The servant put in quickly, "They're in the Northern Reception Room.  
"Okay." Mikoto replied, "Thank you for telling us."  
"You're welcome."  
He and I walked down hall after hall, finally reaching a decorated door. "They're in here." Mikoto told me quietly, "This is the first time you've acted as hostess, right?" I nodded. "Be on your best manors. Offer them drinks, call servants. Create small talk if it is a social visit. If not, sit next to me quietly, I'll see if I can get you out soon."  
He pushed open the door.  
"Kyo!" Kagome exclaimed, jumping up from her seat, "It's great to see you!"  
"Kagome!" I greeted, "Inuyasha! Sango! Miroku! Shippo! What brings you here?"  
"Your celebration ball of course." Miroku replied.  
"I can't believe you're going to have a baby!" Sango said excitedly, "I'm so happy for you! Congratulations!"  
"Thank you!" I said hugging each of them. Except Miroku. I somehow managed to get out of that hug.  
We all sat down again. "You got here awful late." I commented, "The sun's gone down."  
"Yeah." Inuyasha grumbled.  
"About an hour ago Inuyasha commented that we were almost at your castle so we decided to keep on going instead of stopping and waiting till tomorrow. It was probably safer that way anyway." Sango explained.  
"Yes." Mikoto said nodding, "There haven't been many reports of humans being attacked by demons around my castle, but it's always better to be safe."  
Nodding too, I felt something brush against my neck. Looking down I saw the jewel shard Mikoto and I had collected on our travels. "Before I forget," I said pulling it off of its necklace and handing it to Kagome, "We found it on the way to the castle. It was too late to turn back by then."  
"Thanks." Kagome replied, adding it to her jar of shards.  
"No problem." I said, "How's mom?"  
"Just as good as ever." she admitted, "Last time I visited, Sota was head of his class, Grandpa was still trying to get his charms to work, and Mom was just the same."  
"That's good." I replied sighing contently, "I'd love to come back with you to visit, but _someone _won't let me leave the castle." I rolled my eyes at Mikoto.  
"Not until you have your baby." he told me, "After that I'll bring you everywhere with me and you can visit your mother."  
"Promise?" I asked him.  
"Promise." he replied.  
"So what have you been doing around here?" Kagome asked, "It's an awfully large castle."  
Mikoto shrugged. "I've got work to do most of the time." he replied.  
"I like to walk in the gardens." I explained, "They're really pretty. They even bloom in the winter! Isn't that amazing!"  
"Yeah!" Kagome said excitedly, "We'll have to take a walk some time."  
I nodded. "You'll like it. I spend a lot of time in my library too. But I've been spending the most time in my office lately getting ready for the ball."  
"Sounds boring." Inuyasha commented.  
"I is sometimes." I said, "But not often. I enjoy it."  
"That's good to hear." Sango replied, "It's always nice to enjoy your work."  
A servant walked into the room bowing. "My lords, ladies, dinner is served."  
"Shall we go to dinner?" I asked them.  
"Sounds good to me." Miroku replied getting up. We headed towards the dining room.

_

* * *

_Inuyasha: Finally! It's about time you brought us back into the story!

Clear Waters: Yes, I suppose it is.

Kagome: It's nice to see Kyo again.

Miroku: And she gave us a new shard!

Kagome: She's so nice!

Inuyasha: Well even if she didn't give it to us I would have taken it from her.

Kagome: Inuyasha!

Inuyasha: What!

Clear Waters: Never mind. R and R everyone!


	28. The Diary's End

The Third Family

**Author's Note**- SPRING BREAK! Hopefully I'll be able to get a lot of writing done in these two weeks. This is my second chapter out already! (Kijustsu no Senyo was my first) I like the idea of Shippo pranking Kurozena... Haha -.-; Sorry I haven't updated in a while. But Inuyasha and the others didn't drop by randomly! They had an invite! I used Makoto instead of Mikoto? Whoopsies. I did change the name in the letter if you didn't know that. Now it's Raidon. I like twists. :)**  
**

* * *

We had a good time at dinner. Somehow I managed to get a seat in between Miroku and Mikoto. I don't think Mikoto trusted Miroku around me. Sango and the others told me what adventures they had had since we had left the group. Kagome filled me in on everything that was happening at home.  
But they had come late and they were tired. Right after dinner I showed them to their room and Kagome and Sango to the bathes. Slipping into my library, I pulled the diary out of my pocket and opened it up. I didn't open it to where I had left off however, I opened it up to a page near the back. It was blank. I flipped a few pages backwards. Still blank. Sighing, I skipped about fifty pages backwards. There I found writing.  
_I think I've come down with something. I can't exactly say how I feel bad, I just don't feel good. I'm very tired. I hope I get better soon. Mikoto came in a few minutes ago asking me if I wanted to go play with him in the rose garden. I wanted to, but I just couldn't find the strength so I told him that I had spent a long night preparing for the ball next month and that I was just too tired. He looked a bit disappointed, but I know he'll get over it. He's a strong boy. A son to be proud of. But the flowers on the other hand, it's been very hot lately and I need to water them. I wish I hadn't been so stuborn when __Kotomo insisted that we get some gardeners to help me out. Even having one now would be a blessing. I think I'll take a nap now. Maybe that will help.  
_I frowned. Could this have been the sickness that had lead to the end of Misuki's life? I flipped foreward a page in the book. The two pages I saw were filled with entries. The next four pages were the same as were the two after that. Maybe it wasn't the end.  
I turned to the next page just to be sure. There was only one entry on it. The writing was a bit hard to read as if it had taken all of Misuki's energy to hold the pen. I began to read.  
_I don't know how long it's been since I last wrote here. I could have been weeks ago or maybe just yesterday. I slip in and out of concesness, oblivious to just about everything around me except Kotomo. This is the first time I've woken up and not found him besides my bed. I wonder where he is. Where Mikoto is. How my gardens are doing. I don't feel much different from when I first complained of being sick. The only thing that has changed is how intense my my tiredness is.  
I don't know why I'm forcing myself to write this and waste my energy. Maybe it's because this is the first time in a while I have been aware enough to remember my diary. Maybe it's because deep down I know that the end is coming. But I don't want to believe that. My son is still very young. I want to watch him grow up and be happy. To find his own love. If that is indeed the case, that I will die soon, I hope my mate and my son know that I will always love them even if I'm dead. There is the ball I have been planning tomorrow. I know that much. I hope Kotomo won't cancel it. I worked hard on it and it might be the last time I work hard on anything. I want Kotomo to keep on being his cheerful self even if I die. I don't want him to mourn for me.  
If I die, I will have this diary hidden by my most trusted servant. I know where I will tell her to hide it. That place will only be accessed by whoever takes over my job. I believe she will have a right to know what happened in my life.  
_I wiped away a stray tear. That had been the end. I knew it and she had known it. The idea of showing this to Mikoto flashed through my mind. I shook my head. No. Not yet at least.  
I grinned as I felt the baby kick. But it also reminded me it was late. I sighed. I wasn't tired yet. A walk in the gardens sounded good, but it was still the new moon which created two problems. One, there was no light in the gardens tonight. Two, I was a human so I couldn't seen in the dark. In other words, Mikoto would not be happy with me if I went out.  
My thoughts returned to the baby. I wondered if it would be a boy or a girl. A hanyou or youkai. Looking down at my stomach I patted it. It wouldn't be long until I found out. 

_

* * *

_Inuyasha: And we're out of the story again.

Clear Waters: Not really. Kyo mentioned you and it's not like you've left the castle.

Inuyasha: But we weren't in the chapter!

Kagome: But we're not out of the story!

Miroku: Exactly. We're staying for the ball!

Sango: You sound excited.

Miroku: Why shouldn't I sound excited?

Sango: You're going to get yourself killed some day, do you know that?

Clear Waters: Agreed! R and R everyone! 


	29. Pranks Part I

The Third Family

**Author's Note**- SPRING BREAK! Hopefully I'll be able to get a lot of writing done in these two weeks. This is my second chapter out already! (Kijustsu no Senyo was my first) I like the idea of Shippo pranking Kurozena... Haha -.-; Sorry I haven't updated in a while. But Inuyasha and the others didn't drop by randomly! They had an invite! I used Makoto instead of Mikoto? Whoopsies. I did change the name in the letter if you didn't know that. Now it's Raidon. I like twists. :)**  
**

* * *

I got my walk that I had wanted so badly the next day, unfortunatly it was alone. Atleast to begin with. I had wanted to go on a walk with Mikoto, Taoa, Kagome, and the others, but Mikoto was busy, I couldn't find Taoa, and Kagome and the rest of the others were busy having a bath. Sango invited me to join them, but I said no.  
So here I was, walking down the garden paths alone. The days had been getting warmer, a sure sign that spring was on its way early this year. I grinned. I liked the idea that my child would be born in the spring time. Spring is the best season. Everything is starting to come alive. The days aren't too cold, but they're not too hot either.  
I grinned and stopped to smell a flower. "Nice day today, isn't it?" Sanouskai asked, walking up to me.  
I looked over to him and and smiled again. "I haven't seen you around lately."  
He shrugged, "I've been busy with the gardens like you have been busy with your ball." Sanouskai explained, "How is the ball going anyways?"  
"The first guests arrived yesterday." I replied, "They're my friends that I traveled with while Mikoto was courtning me."  
"It's always good to see old friends." he commented, "I bet you were glad to see them."  
"Over joyed." I agreed, "I missed them so much. Especially my adoptive sister."  
"I would like to meet them some time." Sanouskai said, "Am I invited to the ball?"  
I thought about this for a second. Kurozena hadn't said anything about inviting servants to the ball. "I don't see why you couldn't come." I replied, "Consider it an invitation. I'll be hurt if you don't take it."  
"Don't worry." he said grinning, "I'll definitely take it. It's not everyday that one gets an invitation to a ball." 

As I returned to the castle an hour later, Shippo burst through the doors and into my arms. "It's all set!" he said giggling."What's all set?" I asked curiously.   
"My prank!" the kitsune replied.   
"For Inuyasha?"  
"No."  
"Then who?" I was almost afraid to ask.  
"That housekeeper person here." Shippo told me.  
I had been right to be afraid. "Kurozena?"  
"Yup!" he said happily.  
I inwardly groaned. I was just beginning to get the demoness's respect and now Shippo was going to ruin it for me. "What's your prank?" I questioned.  
"Last night a maid told me where the housekeeper's room was so today I set up a bucket full of the maple syrup Kagome brought over the housekeeper's door. When she opens the door up the bucket will dump the syrup on her. Then when she walks into the room, she'll pull a string and all these feathers will come down on her!"  
I was horrified. Kurozena would never forgive me if Shippo did this to her. But what surprised me the most was the complexity of the prank. I had seen and helped him with many of his pranks for Inuyasha. This was far beyond his level. "How'd you do this all by yourself?" I asked carefully.  
"I didn't do it by myself." he answered, "Inuyasha helped me make it up and put it together."  
Inuyasha. I should had guessed. He was the only other person in the group who would ever dream of pranking someone. "Is it set up now?"  
"Yeah!"  
I sighed. "You know what?" I asked Shippo, "We really shouldn't be doing this. It's not nice."  
Shippo's face fell. "But it's going to be so much fun!" he insisted, "Why can't we do it?"  
I wasn't in the mood to explain the relationship between Kurozena and I at the moment, so I decided to bribe the kid. "Tell you what, if you help me take this down, I'll help you put it up again outside of Inuyasha's room, okay?"  
"Yeah!" Shippo exclaimed happily, "Let's go!" I grinned.

We ran to Kurozena's room. Even that wasn't that fast because I couldn't go that quickly with my heavy stomach. It probably took around five minutes. I looked at Inuyasha and Shippo's handy work. It was very nice if I do say so myself. I wouldn't have noticed it unless I looked up. The bucket and rope attached to it were on the ceiling. Luckily the ceiling wasn't very high in this part of the castle, but I still couldn't reach it. "Shippo," I said, "do you think you could turn into something I can step on so that I can get it off?"   
"Sure." he replied and promptly turned into a pink rock. I giggled, and stepped onto him. With the extra height, I was able to unhook the bucket and bring it down easily.  
Stepping off of Shippo, he turned back into his normal self and opened the door. "You see that string?" he asked me.  
I nodded.  
"If it gets pulled all these feathers will come down."  
I looked up. There was a sheet at on the ceiling here. I guessed that was where the feathers were. "I'm going to need you to turn into your bubble." I told him, "This part of the ceiling is too high up."  
"Okay." Shippo said, transforming into the bubble. I climbed on and we went up. Gently I pulled down the sheet of freathers, careful not to spill them everywhere. I slid off Shippo and pulled the string attached to the cloth out from where it was wrapped. We then closed the door and hurried to my library, laughing.  
"You don't want to try to prank Kurozena again." I warned him, "She's not very nice, okay?"  
"Okay." Shippo replied, "So when are we going to put this stuff outside of Inuyasha's room?"  
"How about tomorrow afternoon?" I suggested.  
"Yeah!" he said laughing, "And we can watch! It's going to be so much fun!"

_

* * *

_Inuyasha: I can't believe those two! Especially the brat! I help him prank Kurozena and he goes back and uses it to prank me!

Kagome: It's going to be funny.

Inuyasha: HEY!

Miroku: Now, now Inuyasha. There's no need to get so shook up.

Sango: Yeah, I mean it's just some sticky liquid and feathers.

Clear Waters: Yeah! It's only those things! R and R everyone!


	30. Pranks Part II

The Third Family

**Author's Note**- Here's the long awaited continuation of Shippo's prank:)**  
**

* * *

The next afternoon I left my library with the materials to set the trap up and headed right to where Shippo and I had agreed to meet. Lucky for us, Kagome had insisted that she and Inuyasha take a walk in the gardens after lunch. I suspected Kagome had something to do with this. Having no proof, I decided to keep my opinions to myself.  
Turning the corner towards Inuyasha's rooms, I was greeted by a loud whisper. "Kyo!"  
I looked down to see Shippo jumping up and down excitedly.  
"Are we going to pull the prank on Inuyasha now!"  
"Of course." I said showing him the materials in my hands, "I promised you we'd do it this afternoon, didn't I?"  
Shippo squealed in delight. I grinned and looked up at the ceiling. "You're going to have to turn into something I can climb on." I commented to him.  
Nodding, Shippo turned himself into a pink rock in a puff of smoke. Surpressing a giggle, I climbed up onto him and attached the bucket of maple syrup onto the ceiling. Climbing back down I tied the string that was on the bucket to the sliding door.  
"Ready for the feathers?" I asked Shippo.  
"Yeah!" he exclaimed, jumping up and down happily. Suddenly he stopped. "Inuyasha put the feathers up first so there was no problem getting into the room later." the kitsune announced, "Do we have a problem?"  
I looked back up at the bucket. "No. We'll just have to be really careful when we open the door to get in. Okay?"  
"Okay!"  
Opening the door the smallest amount I could manage and still get in with my giant belly I was relieved to see that the syrup still hadn't spilled. Shippo jumped into the room and I followed, closing the door again.  
It was a bit harder to put the feathers on the ceiling than it had been to do the syrup. Instead of one fastener to stick on the ceiling, there were four. It didn't help that they had to be strong enough to keep the cloth full of feathers up and weak enough to break when Inuyasha pulled the string attached to it.  
Putting the string attached to the cloth was a whole lot easier than putting up the cloth. Finally we were finished.  
"Done!" I announced happily.  
"Can we get out?"  
The answer, two minutes later, was yes. It was more difficult than getting in I have to admit. Instead of being able to watch and see if the bucket would tip, we couldn't see it. And it didn't help that there was a string across the bottom of the door. It made getting out harder for me, but not for Shippo. It was high enough that he could just crawl under.  
"What are we going to do now?" Shippo asked.  
I thought about what was going on in the castle. "Well you probably want to watch your trap go off on Inuyasha, right?" I asked.  
He nodded.  
"Then do you want to spy on Inuyasha? He's in the garden with Kagome."  
"Good idea!" Shippo said laughing, "Let's go!" 

For the sake of Inuyasha and Kagome, I won't repeat what Shippo and I saw that day. But just to let you know it wasn't anything bad. Some walking in silence, a fight, two sits, the normal stuff. But after the fight Kagome walked off in a bad mood, leaving Inuyasha alone in the garden. The poor hanyou wandered back into the castle and amazingly right past us without noticing. We followed him right to the hallway outside his room and waited. He didn't even seem to notice the sting as he pushed the door to his room open. The maple syrup poured down on him. I guess Shippo had added a bit of water to it.  
Yelling a bit, Inuyasha jumped into his room and tripped right over the string across the doorway. Two out of four of the clips dropped, and the feathers went floating down on Inuyasha's back.  
He growled and stood up slowly. Shippo gulped next to me. "This is when we run." he whispered to me. I didn't need any prompting. We took off as fast as we possibly could. Well that just wasn't fast enough.  
A dripping, feathered Inuyasha jumped in front of us growling. "Shippo..." he said growling, "Kyo..."  
"Hi..." I said grinning guiltily.  
He glared at me.  
Before I could even blink Inuyasha had grabbed Shippo and bonked him on the head. "Why'd you help him?" he asked me, still glaring.  
"Don't prank Kurozena." I advised, "She's not nice. Just a little warning."  
"Little." Inuyasha repeated, "You call this _little_! I'm freaking covered in SUGAR!"  
Shippo began laughing which earned him another bump on the head.  
"Compared to what Kurozena probably would have done, yes." I replied.  
The hanyou growled on last time and dropped Shippo before stomping off.

_

* * *

_Inuyasha: I only hit Shippo twice! Thats all!

Kagome: Yes. Thankfully.

Shippo: But two bumps still hurt!

Miroku: True. Inuyasha, you must learn to curve your anger.

Inuyasha: To where? You?

Miroku: Definitely not.

Clear Waters: Not me either. Read and review everyone!


	31. News

The Third Family

**Author's Note**- Been a while, hasn't it? Sorry! I've been a bit busy with other things and other stories. Oh well. Enjoy!**  
**

* * *

Later that day whild spending some quite time with Mikoto, the subject of that afternoon's activities was brought up. "I saw Inuyasha running around covered in feathers today." he commented, "Know anything about it?"  
I laughed. "Yeah." I replied, "A little too much."  
Mikoto raised an eyebrow. "Do tell." he prompted.  
"I set up the trap that put the maple syrup and feathers on him." I told Mikoto.  
"Why?"  
I shrugged. "Shippo and Inuyasha had it set up at Kurozena's door." I explained, "I didn't want to think of what would happen if the prank had gone off on her, so I took it down and put it back up on Inuyasha's door."  
Mikoto laughed. "Serves him right." he said hugging me, "It must have been very funny." My mate's fingers lingered over my large belly. "Our child should be coming soon."  
I looked at him surprised. "But it's only been a little more than two months!" I insisted, "It takes nine months."  
"For a human, yes." Mikoto agreed, "But for a demon it only takes 3."  
I swear my eyes almost popped out. "What!" I exclaimed.  
"Are you upset?" he asked a little uneasily.  
"No." I said shaking my head, "Just suprised."  
"Good." Mikoto answered grinning, "You got me a little scared there."  
"I'm sorry."  
"It's alright... So how's the ball going?"  
"Pretty good." I admitted, "Everything's ready. Now we just have to wait for the guests to arrive and start it!"  
Mikoto laughed. "Sounds good to me." he said. 

Later that day I finally got to have some time alone with Sango and Kagome. I hadn't realized how much I had missed them. It had just been too long. Kallani was also with us. It was a girl time. "So," I said grinning mischieviously at Kagome and Sango, "How's it going with your boys?"  
Both blushed, but Sango was the first to reply. "Miroku's not my 'boy'." she said, "He's a pervert who likes to grab my butt."  
"And Inuyasha still likes Kikyo." Kagome put in.  
Deciding to reply to Sango first, I turned to her. "I don't know about since I left, but before I left I noticed that Miroku wasn't groping anyone but you anymore." Then I turned to Kagome. "Come on." I said sighing. "You've told me you like Inuyasha. You can't deny that. And we both know that even if he still likes Kikyo, she's still just his past."  
"You're up to something." Sango accused.  
I grinned and shrugged. "Not really." I answered, "It just feels a little aquard for me to be the youngest of the group and first mated."  
"True." Kagome agreed, "But that just makes you luck!"  
"Yeah." Sango said, "It's not really an aquard situation. Aquard is when Miroku and I have a nice moment and then the silence just before he gropes me."  
We laughed.  
Kallani, who had been silent since the beginning finally spoke up. "Why don't you guys stay a little longer than the ball?" she suggested, "I'm sure Kyo would love to have your company as long as possible and I'm sure you'd love to see her baby when he or she's born."  
"I'd love to see Kyo's baby when it's born, but I'm not sure if we could stay here for seven months though." Kagome said sadly.  
Kallani gave Kagome a weird look and I heard some information for the second time that day. "What are you talking about? Kyo's baby will come in a few weeks! Demon babies take much less time to be born than human babies."  
Sango nodded. "I remember hearing about that." she said.  
"So you'll stay?" I asked.  
"Of course!" Kagome replied happily.

_

* * *

_Clear Waters: Short.

Inuyasha: You're damn right and I wasn't in it either!

Kagome: Come on Inuyasha! We're going to stay in the story to the end now!

Miroku: Yes. Thankfully.

Shippo: I'm excited! I can get Kyo to help me with more pranks for Inuyasha!

Inuyasha: What did you say runt?

Shippo: Nothing!

Inuyasha: Good!

Clear Waters: Read and Review everyone!


	32. An Unexpected Event

The Third Family

**Author's Note**- Once again, a LONG LONG time in between chapters... Sorry! Well today we get a very special author's note. I've got a lot to say. I will make a list.

1. Last Wednesday my latin teacher died from cancer. Because of this I was thinking of doing a new story that was a series of one shots that are dedicated to my friends and family. Let me know what you think about this.

2. This chapter marks the beginning of the end. THE CLIMAX HAS ARRIVED! (Finally) Now the real action starts. Sorry to keep you waiting so long.

3. I had this idea of giving myself a muse. Yes, I know, strange. What I came up with is an inside joke between me and a friend. I will have two muses. Their names will be Yugi and Akugi and they are my twin little sisters. Long story. Maybe if you ask nicely I'll try to explain in the next chapter.

4. And lastly, I have an idea for a sequal to this. Am I going too far to make a sequal of a sequal? Give me your opinion. And no, I'm not going to tell everyone what my idea is. It's a secret.

* * *

It was a day before the ball. Finding myself awake in the early hours of the morning, and unable to get back to sleep, I decided to take a walk in the gardens. The sun was just coming up and I was looking forward to a nice view of the sunrise.  
Slipping out of bed, I glanced over at Mikoto who was still sleeping. I smiled. He just looked so innocent when he slept. And twice as handsome. Not that he ever looked bad when he was awake. I was extra careful to not make noise while I put on a simple white kimono over my sleeping kimono and tied a red ribbon to keep it in place. From there I snuck out into the gardens.  
It was a good thing I wasn't caught. It seemed now that even the servants who would obey my every word when I arrived kept me from wandering around alone now. I guess it was because I was pregnant. But still, just because I was carrying a child doesn't mean I didn't want time to myself. This was the first time I had been able to get out of the castle alone in almost a week.  
"Hey."  
I nearly jumped out of my skin. Turning around I saw Sanouskai. "Are you going to march me back into the castle like everyone else?" I asked.  
"No." came his reply, "You don't want me to, right?"  
I laughed. "No."  
"So what are you doing out here so early?" Sanouskai asked.  
"Just getting a chance to be on my own." I answered.  
"Did I interupt your solitude?" He looked sincerily shocked.  
"Yes, but it's alright." I told him, "As long as you're not going to try to drag me back into the castle."  
"Good." Sanouskai said grinning. He walked a little closer, putting an arm around my shoulders.  
"What are you doing?" I asked nervously, "I don't like it. Stop!"  
His grin turned into more of a sneer. "Why should I?" he asked, pulling me closer to himself. I struggled to get away, but his grip was too strong. Sanouskai casually put a hand over my mouth and continued talking, "I must thank you for making this easy for me, milady. I was intending to kidnap milord's cousin and hold her for ransom, but when milord came home with you, I decided you would be much more worth while."  
My eyes widened and I started struggling harder. Unfortunately, carrying a baby takes a lot out of you. My strength was completely gone in minutes. As soon as I stopped struggling Sanouskai chuckled. "We'll be going to the Southern Kingdom now." he told me, jumping off. Two leaps took us right over the walls around the castle. We landed on soft grass on the other side.  
I had one more idea up my sleave. He wouldn't take me without a fight. In one fluid movement I bit down on Sanouskai's hand and kicked him where it hurts. Gasping, he dropped me and I tried to get away. It didn't work. The demon was quick to recover. He grabbed me, putting his hand back over my mouth. It gave me a small bit of satisfaction to see that there were two quite large puncture marks on his hand where my fangs had sunk in.  
"Bitch." Sanouskai growled. Pushing away my hair, he grabbed my neck right at a pressure point. I blacked out.

When I woke up I was laying on my back, my hands tied under me. My legs were also tied and my mouth was gagged. It seemed like I was in a dungeon. Over all, it was not very comfortable.  
"So you're awake." a voice said.  
I turned my head quickly to see a woman with black hair and dark eyes grinning at me.  
"Welcome to the Southern Lands." she told me grinning, "I am Sen, the Lady of the Southern Lands and you are my hostage. Do you know how rich and powerful the lands you were justmated into are?"  
I shook my head no.  
"Very." Sen continued, "In fact, out of all fourkingdoms in this land it is the second after the Western. But the Western Landsare much too powerful for us to attack. After all we are the weakest of the four."  
During the time that Sen had been talking, I had beenknawing on my gag. Finally I bit through it. Spitting a little I replied, "And so you kidnapped me so milord Mikoto would give you some of his power in return for mywell being."  
Sen looked mildly surprised at my ability to speak. "My you're a smart one." she commented, "I'm sorry to say, but I don't have time to sit around a dark dungeon all day and talk with a captive.I've got other things to do. So tata. Isuppose I may have a servant bring youdown something to eat later. Maybe." With that she walked out of the dungeon.  
I was alone. I was cold. I had no hope. And I was in a dungeon._

* * *

_

Inuyasha: I wasn't in it AGAIN! What the hell is wrong with you?

Clear Waters: Nothing. You'll be back in the story later though. I promise.

Miroku: That's good to know.

Sango: Yes it is.

Clear Waters: Read and Review everyone!


	33. Rescue

The Third Family  
**Think About It- **This is my new little prestory thing. Because I GRADUATED today I decided to have everyone think about Vitamin C's song Graduation. I bet most of you have heard it before, but here's the lyrics.

And so we talked all night about the rest of our lives  
Where we're gonna be when we turn 25  
I keep thinking times will never change  
Keep on thinking things will always be the same  
But when we leave this year we won't be coming back  
No more hanging out cause we're on a different track  
And if you got something that you need to say  
You better say it right now cause you don't have another day  
Cause we're moving on and we can't slow down  
These memories are playing like a film without sound  
And I keep thinking of that night in June  
I didn't know much of love  
But it came too soon  
And there was me and you  
And then we got real blue  
Stay at home talking on the telephone  
We'd get so excited, we'd get so scared  
Laughing at ourselves thinking life's not fair  
And this is how it feels

As we go on  
We remember  
All the times we  
Had together  
And as our lives change  
Come Whatever  
We will still be  
Friends Forever

So if we get the big jobs  
And we make the big money  
When we look back now  
Will our jokes still be funny?  
Will we still remember everything we learned in school?  
Still be trying to break every single rule  
Will little brainy Bobby be the stockbroker man?  
Can Heather find a job that won't interfere with her tan?  
I keep, I keep thinking that it's not goodbye  
Keep on thinking it's a time to fly  
And this is how it feels

As we go on  
We remember  
All the times we  
Had together  
And as our lives change  
Come Whatever  
We will still be  
Friends Forever

La, la, la, la:  
Yeah, yeah, yeah  
La, la, la, la:  
We will still be friends forever

Will we think about tomorrow like we think about now?  
Can we survive it out there?  
Can we make it somehow?  
I guess I thought that this would never end  
And suddenly it's like we're women and men  
Will the past be a shadow that will follow us 'round?  
Will these memories fade when I leave this town  
I keep, I keep thinking that it's not goodbye  
Keep on thinking it's a time to fly

As we go on  
We remember  
All the times we  
Had together  
And as our lives change  
Come Whatever  
We will still be  
Friends Forever

So how many of you have heard this before? I heard this song for the first time when I was in fifth grade. I didn't really listen to the lyrics. I only decided that I liked the sound of the song. Now that I'm older and I'm graduating, I took the time to actually listen to the lyrics. Believe it or not a whole lot of the lyrics apply to me. Especially the thing about 'will our jokes still be funny?' Who's graduating this year or has already graduated? What applies to you?

* * *

Before I said I had no hope, perhaps I was over reacting. But not too much. A few minutes after Sen had left me alone, my hands were untied. It was not the first time I was glad to have my claws. It only took a few seconds to untie my legs after that. Now that I could walk, the next thing to do would be to try to get away.  
After a bit of a struggle getting up, what with my big belly and my sore legs (from being tied up), I tried the door. To my surprise it was open. I looked out into the hall causously. Pushing the door open a bit, I looked up and down the hall. There was no one around, so I crept out. I stopped to sniff the air. Finding Sen's scent, I followed it to the left.  
It seemed as if I walked around in the dungeon for hours. And it probably had been hours. My feet were getting tired and I was stopping for breaks ever few minutes when I heard it the first time. It sort of sounded like a yell and a clang of a sword combined. Frowning I sniffed the air again. Sen's scent was gone. I went pale. I realized hadn't smelled her scent in a long time. How long had I been walking without any sort of lead to go by?  
I mentally kicked myself. Unless I found Sen's scent again I could be lost down here for days, if not forever. There were at least four different passage ways branching off from even the smallest hallway. And they all looked the same. Sighing, I started back the way I had come from, hoping that I could find Sen's scent again.  
A few minutes later I heard the sound again. It sounded closer now. I looked in the direction I was going in nervously. The last thing I wanted to happen was to be caught by a soldier or walk into a room where a duel was going on. That's what the sounds sounded like to me. A bit more unsure than before, I continued forward. As I continued forward, the sounds got louder and more frequent. I could tell that there was a fight going on. But between who? And why? I started heading towards the fight, not because that's where I had last smelled Sen's scent, but because I wanted to know what was going on. I cursed my cat demon blood. Why did I have to be so curious! I was going to get me killed some day. If I survived this one first.  
Approaching the sounds of the fight, they seemed to end. I frowned, becoming more nervous by the minute. If the fight had just been a friendly bout there would be strong fighters coming my way soon. If it had been a fatal fight, one murderous person would be approaching. I didn't know which one was worse. I'd probably die either way.  
Deciding it was the safest way to go, I turned and started walking back the way I came as quietly as I could.  
"And where are you going?" a familiar voice asked. a pair of strong hands gripped my shoulders.  
I stiffened slightly, but then relaxed when I caught the scent.  
Turning around, I was so relieved that I started sobbing into his shirt. "Mikoto!" I sobbed.  
"Shh." he whispered, "It's alright now. I'm here. I'm going to get you home. Were you scared?"  
I looked up at Mikoto, wiping away some tears. "Of course I was!" I exclaimed, "I think anyone would be if they were kidnapped!"  
"Yes." my mate agreed pulling me closer.  
"How long have I been here?" I asked, "I really don't know."  
Mikoto was silent for asecond as he thought it over "Around half a day now I think." he replied, "I'm late, I know. I'm sorry."  
"Don't worry about it." I told him, "I'm just glad you're here."  
"And I'm glad I found you." Mikoto said kissing me gently on the forhead.  
"I heard fighting."I said, "Then it stopped. Did you fight and win?"  
Mikoto patted the swordat his hip. Kenzoku. "Yeah." he replied, "I got into a fight with some guards I saw. Now let's get you home."  
"I think it's a little late for that." a voice said from behind us.  
Right now I was thinking, 'What happened to my senses! That's the second person who's come up behind me today!"  
We turned around to see Sen standing there.  
"Who are you!" Mikoto demanded, "What do you want with my mate!"  
"I don't know." she replied, "Why don't you ask your mate? She knows."  
Mikoto turned to me, a question in his eye. "She's Sen, the Lady ofthe South. Shewas planning to trade my safety for your power."  
"Was?" Sen repeated, "I still am."  
Mikoto raised an eyebrow. "But you don't seem to have her anymore." he pointed out, "I do."  
"But both of you are in my castle." she said smirking, "How are you going to get out?"  
"I think we'll find a way." he answered, drawing Kenzoku.  
"A sword!" Sen said in mock terror, "Oh dear! What ever shall I do!" Smirking, she drew her own sword.  
My mate pushed me back gently, getting ready to fight. "I guess I'll have to defeat you to get out, won't I?"  
"Perhaps you will." Sen sneered.  
I took a few extra steps back just to be careful. I had seen Mikoto's short battles, but never his long ones. Something told me this would be a longer one. And I was right. I was surprised at how quickly the battle began. It seemed as if Sen and Mikoto leaped at each other. Sparks literally flew. It didn't take me long to find out that they were equally matched. For every thrust Mikoto threw, Sen had an equally powerful parry.  
But finally something happened in the fight. Sen lashed out, her attack throwing Mikoto back towards me. I ran towards him. "Mikoto!" I screamed. I gasped as I saw a large red spot appearing on my mate's shirt. 


	34. Return

The Third Family

**It's SPECIAL!**  
Look what's back! Personal responses! Everyone just said things I had to reply to seperately.

**A.B.C.Otaku- **Did I say I was graduating from 8th? Whoops. So much for keeping my age secret, but yes, YAY FOR NEW HIGHSCHOOLERS!

**LiL.CaT.AnImE- **Thank you! Don't you just love my cliffy?

**Dragon Man 180- **Something seems to be up with demons and asking for help. Inuyasha doesn't do it, Koga doesn't do it, Sesshoumaru doesn't do it... Naraku does, but he's retarded. Mikoto believes that he's strong enough to save his mate alone. And who knows, maybe he's right.

**Lenipez sideshow- **Thank you!

**Heart of Friendship-** Winds of Change is going to be updated? YAY!

**Think About It-** I got this as an email and I just had to put it up. There were 45 to begin with so I just put up the ones that worked the best.

Think about them one at a time BEFORE going on to the next one... IT DOES MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD, especially the thought at the end.

1. Falling in love.  
2. Laughing so hard your face hurts.  
3. A hot shower.  
4. A special glance.  
5. Hearing your favorite song on the radio.  
6. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside.  
7. Hot towels fresh out of the dryer.  
8. Giggling.  
9. A good conversation.  
10. The beach  
11. Finding a 20 dollar bill in your coat from last winter.  
12. Running through sprinklers.  
13. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.  
14. Laughing at an inside joke.  
15. Friends.  
16. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you.  
17. Your first kiss (either the very first or with a new partner).  
18. Having someone play with your hair.  
19. Sweet dreams.  
20. Holding hands with someone you care about.  
21. Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) never change.  
22. Watching the sunrise.  
23. Knowing that somebody misses you.  
24. Getting a hug from someone you care about deeply.  
25. Knowing you've done the right thing, no matter what other people think.

* * *

**Last Time**: But finally something happened in the fight. Sen lashed out, her attack throwing Mikoto back towards me. I ran towards him. "Mikoto!" I screamed. I gasped as I saw a large red spot appearing on my mate's shirt. 

**This Time**: "Mikoto!" I yelled, "Are you alright! Speak to me!"  
"I'm alright." he groaned, sitting up.  
"Are you sure?"  
Mikoto gave me a small smile. "Don't worry about me." he told me, standing up, "I'll be fine. In an hour that wound will be gone. You know that. Besides, what I'm worried about right now is you. We've got to get you home.  
"How touching." Sen said smirking. She lunged for me, sword in front of her. My mind worked quickly. I grabbed the sword between my two hands so that the sharp edges wouldn't hurt me to badly. From there I threw the sword, and Sen, across the room.  
"You-you BITCH!" Sen screamed, "How dare you do that to me!"  
I found myself behind Mikoto, his own sword in front of him. "Leave my mate alone." h"e growled, "If you don't. I swear, you'll die."  
"Is that so?"  
"Yes."  
Sticking my head around Mikoto, I was surprised to see that his sword was glowing purple. Sen seemed to be just as surprised asme, not to mention a little scared. I didn't blame her.  
"Tsume Yaseiarashii!" Mikoto yelled, swining his blade. I gasped as two silver shapes that almost looked like boomarangs (regualar sized, not like Sango's) went flying towards Sen. She ducked, attempting to avoid being hit, but the silver shapes followed her down. She screamed and in a flash of purple light, disappeared.  
Mikoto turned to me. "You alright?" he asked.  
"Fine." I replied.  
"I don't believe you." he retorted, "I smell blood."  
Sighing in defeat, I held up my hands, showing him the two cuts on each from grasping the sword. "They're not bad."I insisted.  
My mate was already wiping the blood off of my hands with a piece of cloth. From there he ripped the cloth in two and tied one piece around each hand. "Better?" Mikoto asked, looking up from his work.  
"Yeah, thanks."  
"You're welcome." There was a moment of silence while we just stood there. FinallyMikoto spoke. "Ready to go?"  
"Definitely." I replied, "Do you know the way out?"  
My mate nodded. "You were actually pretty close to getting out." he admitted. "Follow me."

We walked. And walked. _Andwalked._Finally we reached a set of stairs. By then I was exhausted. Walking around that long with such a large stomach is hard. My feet hurt!  
"I thought you said I was close." I grumbled, "We've been walking for at least an hour!"  
"We have." Mikoto agreed, "But look at this, you were close." He pulled out a piece of folded parchment. It turned out to be a map. "This is a map of the dungeons in the Southern castle." my mate told me, "This is where you were." He pointed to a spot relatively close to the edge of paper. "This is where we are now." He pointed to another spot at the very edge of the parchment. "This dungeon is huge."  
"That's what it looks like." I agreed.  
Mikoto helped me up the stairs. We arrived in a large room which was furnished very comfortably.  
I opened my mouth to say something, only to be stopped by Mikoto putting a hand over my mouth. "Don't say anything." he whispered, "We've got to get out of here undetected."  
I nodded and he took his hand off my mouth.

Only a few minutes later, we found ourselves outside the castle. Taoa was waiting for us there.  
"I rode her here." Mikoto explained, "I hope you don't mind."  
"Not at all." I replied hugging him, "Thank you so much. I was so scared! I didn't know what to do!" A tear dripped down my cheek.  
"Don't worry about it." Mikoto replied, "You're my mate. It's my job to protect you. Now let's get onto Taoa. I think she's happy to see you."  
And she was. The fire cat, even in her large form, was purring. When I walked over to her she rubbed her big head against my stomach affectionately. I giggled and climbed onto her back. Mikoto climbed on behind me. Then we took off.


	35. The Ball

**Author's Note: **Well here I am, sitting at the kitchen table at my shore house. I can't believe it's been a year since I started this story. It's sort of funny because I'm guessing this is one of the last chapters I'll write for this story and I wrote some of the first chapters here too.

* * *

I guess I fell asleep because the next thing I knew I was opening my eyes up to see the ceiling in the room I shared with Mikoto. Sighing, I got up and started shuffling towards the closet. I had no doubt that my maids would be hurrying into help me soon so the only thing I had to worry about was choosing a kimono.  
"Good morning. How are you feeling?"  
Turning around I saw Mikoto walking over to me. He gave me a quick hug and a kiss on the top of my head.  
"Not bad." I replied, smiling at his touch, "What's up?" I had learned from the past few months that when I woke up Mikoto would not be there and I would not see him until lunch unless I visited him in his office.  
"The ball is scheduled for today." He told me.  
"Oh!" I had forgotten all about it during all the events of yesterday.  
"I came to ask you if you wanted to put it off for a day or two." Mikoto continued, "You know, just to recover from yesterday. You're probably still a little shaken. All the guests are here. We're prepared to give them lodgings. They shouldn't mind holding it off for a bit as long as we give them food and entertainment. They'll understand… Or perhaps you just want to cancel the ball completely."  
"Cancel the ball?" I repeated, "After all that work I did for it? Absolutely not! We won't be putting it off either. I feel perfectly fine Mikoto! We're going to continue like yesterday never happened!"  
My mate laughed. "I thought you'd say that." He said nodding. "Your maids will be in shortly. You've got a whole lot more work ahead of you before the ball."  
I was confused. "But the ball's all planned!" I insisted, "What else do I have to do!"  
Mikoto patted me on the head and headed towards the door. "You'll see Kitten. You'll see. I'll see you at the ball tonight."  
"Do you have things to do too?" I asked.  
"No." he replied grinning, "You'll just be too busy to see me until then."  
As soon as he closed the door, it was opened again. This time it was my maids. San and Jina (remember them from chapter 14?) were draped with cloth in all different colors and sizes. They also carried jars full of unknown substances.  
"What's all that for?" I asked curiously.  
"The ball." Jina said grinning.

Mikoto was right when he had said I would have time to see him until that night. Hours went by as San and Jina got me ready for the night. They added layer after layer of kimonos onto me. I lost count at layer five. After than they carefully put the most intricate obi I had ever seen around my waist.  
From there they did my hair. This probably took the longest time. Parts were put into buns while others were braided into tiny robes. Finally Jina held up a mirror so I could see the final product. I gasped.  
"Is it to your approval milady?" San asked.  
"Yes." I said in amazement, "Yes it is."  
My hair had been turned into a masterpiece! The buns they had put my hair up in was the main part of the style. The little braids were then woven around them. To top it all off there were what looked like jewels in my hair. Saphires, rubies, emeralds, they were all there.  
"Am I finished?" I asked the two, "You've done a wonderful job!"  
"Thank you." San said bowing.  
"But we're not finished yet!" Jina announced happily.  
"What's left to do?" I asked frowning.  
"Your make up." She replied, holding up one of the jars I had seen when they entered.

I had been wrong when I said that doing my hair had taken the longest time. The make up was a much longer process. The two had seriously painted me. I'm not kidding. I looked like a porcelain doll. Not only was my face white, but any other bit of my skin that wasn't covered by clothes or my hair was too. Above my white face make San and Jina had added some blush, eyeliner, eye shadow, and lipstick. I looked like a totally different person.  
"Now are we done?" I asked, looking at myself in the mirror Jina offered.  
"Now we're done." San said smiling and bowing once again, "Do you like it?"  
"Yes." I told them. "Thank you very much for helping me. How much longer until the ball?"  
"Fifteen minutes." San replied. Where had the day gone! "And milord wants to see you."  
"Because he forgot to tell you about what you have to do tonight at the ball." Jina continued.  
"But he can't see you until the ball begins." San explained. What was this? A wedding? Why couldn't I see my mate if he had something to tell me? I supposed it was because of old traditions that were unthinkable to break.  
"So he wrote you a note." Jina finished. She handed me a piece of paper that was folded up twice. I wondered when she had gotten in while I took it and opened it.  
_Dear Kitten,  
__I'm sorry I forgot to mention a lot about tonight. I was stupid.  
First, which is the reason you're not hearing this from me in  
person, no one's allowed to see you until the ball once you've  
been dressed up. Except for your maids of course. No, don't  
ask me why. I don't know. It's some sort of old tradition.  
_So I had been right.  
_I'll see you right before we enter the ballroom tonight. The  
guests will already be there. They'll be waiting for us. We will  
walk to the center of the room. The first dance is reserved for us.  
Then the others will join in. Don't worry about the dancing.  
You'll do fine. The whole night's really about dancing, but if you  
get tired and want to sit down, there'll be chairssavedfor just us.  
I'll point them out to you tonight when we walk in. If you're  
nervous just concentrate on having fun. It's going to be lots of fun.  
I promise.  
Much love,  
Mikoto  
_I smiled, putting down the note. "Ready to go milady?" San asked.  
"Yeah." I replied nodding.  
Jina opened the door. I got to my feet, I had been sitting all day, and took a step. It was hard! San smiled, trying not to laugh, and offered me an arm. "It's hard to walk with so much fabric on, especially when you're with child." She told me, "But it'll get easier as you get used to it. I'll help you down to the ballroom."  
I nodded and the three of us stared walking down towards the ballroom.

Mikoto was waiting when we arrived. San handed me over to him. "You look beautiful." He told me in hushed tones, "We've got to be quiet. The doors are about to open and the ball's about to start."  
He was right. As soon as he finished telling me this, the doors opened. I gasped. There were so many guests in the room! Mikoto started walking and so did I. "There's the chairs for us." Mikoto told me, pointing to two large chairs on one of the sides of the room. There were other chairs around but these were much more luxurious than the others.  
We got to the center of the room and a band I hadn't noticed started playing. The step that Mikoto started was easy and even with my layer after layer of clothing, I was able to keep up with him. He had been right. This was fun!  
Soon the other demons joined in I started to see some that I knew. Koga was dancing with a woman I had never met, but I noticed that his glance kept on going back to Kagome, who was next to the wall trying her hardest to get Inuyasha to dance. Somehow Miroku had convinced Sango to dance, but Sango looked rather stiff in the monk's grasp. Sesshoumaru was around glaring at Inuyasha from the other side of the room. Rin and Shippo had found each other and were sitting in a corner. I wondered if they would try dancing that night.  
"Milord?" We stopped dancing to see another demon standing next to Mikoto. "Could I borrow your lady for a dance?"  
Mikoto looked towards me and I shrugged. "Yes." He replied. My mate let go of me and the other demon took me. He danced a different step, but I was able to catch onto it quickly.

As the night went by I danced with demon after demon. They all had nice things to say about Mikoto or me. Once again my partners changed. Lately they hadn't asked, just pulled me over. I didn't really mind. They weren't being rude about it.  
I looked up at my new dance partner to see Inuyasha. "Hi." He said grinning.  
"Hello yourself." I replied. I noticed that we were now dancing a more difficult step I had learned that night. "Where'd you learn to dance?" I asked.  
Inuyasha shrugged. "I don't really know." He admitted, "Maybe when I was living with my mother. It was a long time ago."  
"Have you danced with Kagome yet?" I questioned.  
"No."  
I let go of him.  
"What?" the hanyou asked.  
Rolling my eyes, I pushed him over to where Kagome was standing. Alone. "He's ready to dance with you now." I told her, "You'd be amazed to know he actually knows how to dance! And well too!"  
"Really?" Kagome asked grinning, "Come on Inuyasha, let's go." He glared at me as Kagome dragged him off. I grinned back. He'd thank me for this later.  
Noticing how tired I was becoming, I decided to use the reserved seats Mikoto had pointed out to me earlier. Turning around I bumped into someone. "Sorry!"  
"Oh no, Lady Kyo, I'm sorry. I'm young and still very clumsy." A young demoness said bowing to me, "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Hanako. I'm a swan demon."  
And her looks matched what she said. Her hair was white, almost appearing to have a 'feathery' look to it. Her skin was almost as white as my own at the moment and I could tell she was not wearing any make up. To top it all off the black makeup she wore around her blue eyes gave her a true 'swanish' look. "Nice to meet you Hanako." I said smiling. "How old are you?"  
"Fifteen." She replied sighing, "I had to beg my father to let me come. Please don't bother with me. My young age does not deserve your attention."  
I laughed. "Don't worry about it. I'm only sixteen."  
Hanako's eyes widened in shock. "You're really only a year older than me!" she asked.  
"Yes." I replied nodding, "I don't find many demons my age maybe we'll see each other a lot. But for right now I'm awfully tired. I need to sit down."  
"Of course." The swan demoness said nodding, "It was nice talking to you Lady Kyo."  
I walked over to the chairs, noticing that they were positioned on a bit of a platform. From my seat I got a higher view of what was going on. Inuyasha and Koga had found each other. Kagome was trying her hardest to keep a fight from erupting. Miroku was surrounding himself with a group of demoneses. Nearby Sango fumed quietly. Sesshoumaru was still in the spot he had been before, but now he was talking with another demon. Shippo and Rin had found an apple at one of the refreshment tables and was playing catch with it. Kurozena was glaring at them from a distance.  
"Hi." Mikoto said sitting down next to me, "What's up?"  
"Nothing much." I replied, "I just sat down to rest a bit."  
He nodded. "Up for one more dance?" my mate asked.  
"Sure." I replied standing up.  
As soon as I did this a shooting pain went through my midsection and I leaned over in pain, gasping.  
"Kyo!" Mikoto exclaimed, "What's wrong!"  
That's when I figured out why I hurt so much. I looked up at Mikoto and gave him a weak smile. "The baby's coming."


	36. The End

The Third Family

**Author's Note:** Well this is the end for this story. sobs Well it had to end some time. I was sort of dissapointed to see that only 2 people reviewed the last chapter. I thought it was my best yet! Hope you like this chapter better! Please everyone, REVIEW! PLEASE!

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A few long, painful, hours later, I was sitting on my bed, holding my new baby. Mikoto, Kagome, and Sango had stayed with me for the whole time. Well that wasn't completely true. I noticed that Mikoto had left for a bit. Not long though.  
Now Sango and Kagome had left to give me some private time with Mikoto and our child. My baby boy was a real cutie if I could say so myself, but somehow he shared a hair color that neither Mikoto nor me had. There was a light dusting of black fuzz covering his head. And even more surprising, he didn't have the cat ears that Mikoto and I shared. Instead he had the pointed ears of a full demon.  
"Congratulations." Mikoto said kissing me gently on the cheek, "Our child is a full demon."  
I smiled. "Just like you." I answered, "He ignored his mother's half human blood and stuck with the demon blood."  
My mate laughed, picking the baby up out of my arms. "So what are you going to name him? It's a tradition in the family to let the mother name the child."  
I had to think about this for a second. To be honest, we had never talked about the name of our child. I felt stupid. Why hadn't I brought that up! Then I remembered. The diary. The letter written to me before I was even born from a woman who never knew me. "Raidon." I said simply, "We can name him Raidon."  
Mikoto stared at me in amazement.  
"What?" I asked, quite confused.  
"My mother told me that if she had another child and it was a boy, she'd name him Raidon." He explained laughing.  
So that's why his mother had suggested the name in the letter. Perhaps she had been planning to have another child and name him Raidon. I wondered what she would have called the baby if it were a girl.  
"So we will honor your mother by calling him Raidon." I said grinning. Mikoto didn't know how much we really were honoring her by choosing the name.  
"Yes, we will." Then my mate's tone turned serious. "Kyo?" he asked, "While you were, uh, busy, I was called out for a few minutes to get some news."  
"Yeah? What was it?"  
"Remember that woman I fought when you were kidnapped? The one named Sen?" I nodded. "Well she was the Lady of the Southern Lands."  
"I knew that." I replied, "What about it?"  
"Well her mate's been dead for quite a few years now and she was in charge. So now they don't have a leader. Because I killed her… that gives me the title of Southern Lord."  
My eyes widened in shock. "So that means you control half of Japan!" I asked.  
Mikoto nodded. "Yeah, the demons in half of Japan."  
I squealed a little in delight and hugged him around the waist. I have to say it's pretty difficult to do that sitting in a bed.  
My mate handed me back Raidon, who I cooed at. I never really thought that I was a hard person, but this baby was just making me softer than ever.

The door slid open, revealing Kagome, Inuyasha, and the others. "How are you feeling?" Sango asked walking in.  
"Good." I replied smiling, "But tired!"  
"Your baby's beautiful Kyo!" Kagome said happily, "Can I hold him?"  
"Of course." I replied. Kagome made her way over to me, and I handed her Raidon.  
Miroku turned to Sango. "See Sango?" he asked, "We could have beautiful babies like Kyo and Mikoto have!"  
I blushed. Sango slapped the pervert. We all laughed.

So that's it. There's my life story. I wrote the first part during those three years in between the time Mikoto marked me and brought me to his castle, which I now consider home. This second part took me all the rainy days in Raidon's first year of life. He's one now. Even a little boy that young has too much energy than what's good for him. Speaking of Raidon, as I write this he's sitting on my lap playing with a little rubber ball Kagome brought him on their last visit.  
I have to admit that I'm a little disappointed that he doesn't have the same ears as Mikoto and me. They're just so much fun to play with! But when Raidon grows up he'll be such a handsome boy. There's no doubt about it.  
Enough about my son and me. You probably want to know what happened to Kagome, Inuyasha and the rest of their group. Probably what you'd expect. Almost. Two months ago Sango and Miroku finally gave up fighting and got married. They're expecting a child of their own.  
As for Inuyasha and Kagome, nothing much has happened. They're still playing stubborn and fighting at every chance they get. But when Kagome and Inuyasha aren't fighting, they're acting like a couple. It's just a matter of time. And lastly, Shippo. He's still hanging out with the group, doing his very best to get Inuyasha and Kagome together. I applaud him. That's a hard job. A very hard job indeed.  
I doubt anything else interesting will happen in my life, so this will be my last story. I don't know who will read this story. I've kept it pretty much private. Kalisan's read it. She thinks my life is amazing. I don't think I'll show it to Mikoto. There's just too much about him in here. It would be embarrassing. I've written my two stories in notebooks. I think I'll put them in my library. Who ever finds them can read them. I'm not going to hide them away like Mikoto's mother did with her diary. Maybe my presesor will find it and read it.

**The End**


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